My goal is to keep my mom in her home and to minimize her monthly payments.  

Rarely is that rate bump worth that LTV bump IMO. 60% LTV is actually the Fannie sweet spot, if stopping there will not get in the way of accomplishing your goals.

, What are your long term goals?

Have some guidelines on what you are looking to buy.Write out your goal that you want to achieve with your purchase.  

I definitely did not want to backtrack on my offer and lower less but after physically inspecting the property and the neighborhood it was located in, I realized that it wasn't ideal for my investment goals.

What do you think is a realistic goal given my limited income and age?

That's my goal and desire, but finding listings that are remotely close to the 2% benchmark is extremely difficult.

I think it starts with your goals.

First, the most simple approach is to join all your local Facebook REIA groups and stay active in those by letting everyone know what your goals are. 

I am not looking to do 1-3 houses I am looking to purchase an entire block of lots which I am funding on my own and build 20 new construction houses (is my goal).