I also agree with @Shannon French as far as just do assignments for now..I don't recommend SLO's till you are good at assignments and understand the market, how to screen people, the finance equation etc.

What is the exact equation to find out if his info is true?

Add property management to the equation to give you boots on the ground.Then, if your tenant-buyer closes after two years of renting (standard time frame for that type of agreement), you have gotten profit up front (down payment...which may help you with your down payment to own a house here in Richmond, VA), two years passive income (sans prop mgmt), and then the spread between what you owe the bank and what the seller owes you.I know this is a lot.  

This equates to about a 10% interest rate on a 21k sales price which is about the interest rate I pay on most of my credit cards anyway.

Its not part of the equation.

And yet, both of us were able to find and succeed in REI.So - whichever side of this equation your education satisfies, you can succeed.

You are basically paying above the 1% rule which typically equates to no cash flow and you have not spent a dime in repairs yet.You may want to get a highest and best use report for this property.

I think some buyers that don't bother learning value and rely upon the term "Sheriff's Sale" to equate "bargain" and these buyers run up the prices.

It is very common for owner occupied with low down payment to not cash flow when you don't include your rent value in the equation. 

I went ahead and added the pending house for $145/sqft into the equation which ends up making the 7 sold properties $111/sq ft.If you click the pictures in the CMA of the SOLD houses you can see the images of the interiors.