I'll use legal consul if I need to, but again, was hoping to get acclimated to self-managing and doing this, as it is apt to come up again. 

Better than Airdna use the Enemy Method. 

You bring up a disadvantage of buying down rates I hadn’t considered before. 

If you are looking at a loan amount of 100k then I wouldn't recommend refinancing unless you are shaving at LEAST a full percent off the loan and likely that wouldnt even be enough.  

I work for eXp Realty which allows you to have up to three "personal" transactions each calendar year in which you can waive your commission in a purchase or a sale.

Can't decide which is better so I'd love to connect with anyone who has used one or both of these tools to figure out what they liked/disliked etc.Those two platforms are completely different from each other.I haven't used any of those two, however, I was a developmental controller at one point in my life and the construction team was using Procore as they were targeting large projects such as 100+ units groundup development.I believe BuilderTrend is made for remodelers and home builders.Right now, I am partnered up with someone to do construction and I am just handling all the financial side of things, currently using Monday and QBO to make it work.

They may give you a heads-up on deals before they are released to all. 

Consider roles like property management, real estate brokerage, or project management at a development firm to build up more industry experience.

General investing real estate groups, meet up, and facebook groups are good as well. 

You'd just need to check with the lenders what they allow up to.Having experience (completed rehabs in the last 3-years tends to be what most lenders look to qualify as experience) will help you reduced your down payment all the way down to 0% in some cases for extremely experienced investors.