Most are looking for someone signing up as a cash buyer with no financing contingencies in the contract. 

I would recommend verifying leases/getting estoppel agreements, and using month to month lease terms instead of yearly (hopefully current tenants are close to end of lease or M2M already so they could sign your new lease). 

It is feeding ground for so called gurus to sign you up for classes.Good luck with your hacking.

Well, a week before I'm expected to sign, I get a call from my lender and was told they couldn't do the refi without me bringing cash to close...

There is no reason to hold.If you want to hold you must calculate the estimated cash flow based on a hypothetical 100% financing to determine if the cash flow is generated by the property, your equity/cash or a combination of both income streams. 

I have signed up for the next event on the 5th.

Let's start with setting market rent: If you are a tenant, how do you determine what a property is worth to you?

I'm having the hardest time determining estimated utility costs.

When meeting with the seller after the purchase price has been met, do you read and go over the purchase and sale agreement with them, or let them go over the contract themselves and sign the appropriate fields?

The answer to your questions will be determine by your goals....