I've been having trouble using the BP calculators because I dont know how to plug in accurate or even best guess figures for all the different costs/expenses to account for.

There are plenty of good resources around the Puget Sound area to get plugged into the investor world.

When I asked him why he hadn't plugged it back up to some power (which we did have some outlets working) he said it was because he didn't get my deposit on time.

Get plugged in!

If you are starting out definitely dont look into anything B+ or lower irrespective of how attractive the deal(s) may look on paper.I would also recommend plugging in the zipcode (for a potential deal) in city-data.com and looking at the ‘median household income’ and a few other staristics along with the crime map on neighborhoodscout.com and truliaGood luck!

Only correct comment is get your butt on a bus  and have a look for yourself.

clueless newbie  investorS are a pain in the butt to work with. 

The owners are going to be using  the comps for pricing that is how you should base your offers The income approach would  be helpful to you in evaluating your cash flow after your  offers are accepted There a rental calculators on BP that you can plug your numbers into under tools 

You always need to put a plug number or put in your own estimate for these numbers.

Even if your suggestions boil down to the same, "be first or last" approach, or something else we've all heard over and over,  I'd love to hear what specific searches you've plugged in and followed up on that have yielded insane deals from the MLS.