I want to practice and analyze rental properties using the BP calculator.

Doesn't seem practical.

@Lucas Carl this is good practice haha!

Other than the crazy idea of having the seller pay for the buyer's closing costs, there is another common practice called early possession, which basically means that the buyer moves into the house while under contract and before closing.

If you have a tough occupant, I am less worried about the time it takes to get them out than the damage they may do while they are in the pending getting kicked out.Best practices: find an agent who works the foreclosure circuit and knows how to assess the property in terms of it's renovated value versus upset value and potential first bid price.

It's easy to analyze a deal, however my most common sticking point is that I need more practice at estimating rehab costs.

I have been told that late fees can in practice be virtually unenforceable in Oregon because of the Landlord/Tenant laws in the state. 

Listening to Clayton Morris' podcasts after finding his company Morris Invest on Facebook and having viewed a lot of his videos on YouTube is what motivated me join and look into real estate investing further.That being said, the biggest obstacle I face is not having the cash on hand to do my first deal, and not having any private money connections as of yet.Also, from what I've read of Morris Invest here on BP, there seems to be not enough people with experience dealing with this company, or when I do read of people that have had experiences with Morris Invest, the reviews are mixed at best.Being brand new to all of this however, it seems going the turnkey route seems less complicated in the beginning than trying to reinvent the wheel and do everything myself, but that's just my opinion.Learning to analyze deals and the underlying math involved and understanding the terminology is going to take practice, but is the foundation to a successful REI career.

The few properties I've looked at so far have been single family and duplexes.When talking with a property owner is it best practice to offer your price first or get the property owner to set their initial asking price and negotiate from there?

This expectation is based on solid business practices.