Long story short, after a few backs and forth, and a long delay from the seller's agent (due to health issues), we finally got the contract signed.

I live in West Rogers Park and can assist in several ways in locating off-market and listed properties. 

Im in a similar situation with a municipality, but if you are able to cover health insurance through the service, that makes the transition out of the traditional W-2 much more feasible and also covers all of your bases.  

I have analyzed several deals and nothing make sense just yet.

It borders my property on two sides, and virtually anything short of it staying the way it is (wooded) is going to severely derail my quality of life - and I'd rather not have to move. 

Have used them for my own home and several rental properties.

There are several REIA groups in Pittsburgh, go onto meetup.com and type in Real Estate Investing.

The 2-3 yr time frame is key for several reasons, mostly for seller/owner profits and tax purposes.* Do Not offer "Rent Credits."

This becomes several times more valuable when you get into commercial as those deals become much more complex.

I’m a member of MNREI (they also have some smaller sub groups that may be worth while going to) and I’ve been to several MNREC seminars as well.