I am a recent graduate of Georgia Tech, here in Atlanta and I am currently working as a Product Engineer at a biotech company.

The last year I've been saving a lot, and I've never been working so much in my life :-) Extremely motivated!

Also, pay all of your bills on time every month.Step 8: Offer to help another real estate investor do anything they need in return for mentoring you.Step 9: Listen to positive people daily who are motivating.

I'm also looking for an individual investor to passively invest with.

Was the loan made to an individual or to a business entity?

But sub- $300k houses are hot hot hot, especially if you price your property right <that's super important>; don't set the market price unless you have the #1 product around [e.g. some rehabbers can do this].

Individual landlords are more likely to listen in the first place rather than just analyzing numbers. 

A valid 1031 exchange is a sale of property you've held for investment and a purchase of other property you intend to hold for productive use in investment. 

I look forward to meeting like-minded individuals here.  

It's possible with a longer time on market, they may be open to a lower price.2) being sold by owner - may be more opportunity here. price may be over/under market value.3) foreclosure - bank is motivated to sell. may be willing to sell under value especially in a slow area.based on this, it seems like best bet would be to pursue houses sold by owner, foreclosures, and listings that have been on market for a while. there also is a whole other approach of finding motivated sellers - drive bys, bandit signs, etc.