So that was a low hurdle to improve on.

Ignore everything from 2020 on.

They push heavily that buying with properties through them get you a 25% Return On Investment and on some of their properties they can get 34% ROI and that most people get 9 to 12% ROI investing on their own.

I love real estate and am devouring anything I can find on the subject of investing.

It can look good on paper but reality is another story. 

Ideally, I would love to buy a multi-family property and rent it out, I would consider house hacking but I mainly want to my first property to be one that I can improve on and have it generate income for me.

your loan officer is nuts.you can have multiple lots/parcels on one deed..

We are already surrounded on three sides by urban zoned homes.My neighbors and I have been approached by two individuals, one is a neighbor who is a real estate agent, and the other one a friend of a neighbor, who works with a real estate attorney; both individuals asked us to join them in working with the 5-6 developers they have approached.

I see a lot of posts on Bigger Pockets asking if I should refinance because my closing costs are XYZ.

welcome @Cam Caraher and congrats on joining BP, this place is the start for many, sure was for me longer ago than I care to admit.I'm not personally in your market, although was born in dorchester and grew up in NH, but this is a great place to meet locals.If you have not already a great starting point is the Meetups posted here, just search for your area and see if any meetups are happening.