Also while going through the education, determine what is one specific niche you'd want to concentrate on!

Some properties are turnkey where factors can determine whether your knowledge base will suffice or you need a more in-depth view others are heavy deep renovations where it would be a best investment protection to know what you don’t know; possible septic issues, roof, mechanical electric... then it’s best to get a pro if your a pro or have one. 

1) Talk to your lender to determine your max purchase price. 

I’ve been analyzing some properties in my area, and I’m still trying to determine whether some of these properties are potential deals or not.

Surprised nobody has mentioned that you shouldn't be using a cap rate to determine your offer.This is a residential property since it's under 5 units and it's value is strictly based off comps.Look what other comparable 4plex's have sold for and then decide your offer based on that.It could very well be that you're just in an area where the price to rent ratios don't make sense.

I'm looking to pick up my first property and I've tried running quite a few properties through the calculator.

You can pick neighborhoods with $7,000 houses that are all torn up and then renovated to sell for around $30,000 or so but note that you'll end up with a different quality of tenant than if you picked a neighborhood with houses priced at $75,000.

He's picking up his weekly youtube schedule -- of course there's no mention of his company doing thousands of rehabs. 

the lease is what determines your payments to the seller. 

That should determine what area you play in.