We have a really good referral program that may make sense for you. 

Many do a 5% no PMI program and don't use the same inspection criteria FHA requires.

Through talking to different real estate agents I’ve heard about both mass housing and fha loan programs.The mass housing loan program also has a downpayment assistance program, that will pay for a good portion of the downpayment.

Typically getting a pro membership at one of these stores will give you enough of a discount to outweigh the hassle of always trying to find the best sale. 

I used the First time home buyer program to purchase my first home before I got married a few years ago.

What program are you using to track rents, deposits, expenses??

Besides acquiring my first investment property, one of my goals for 2020 is to start networking more so I can gain additional knowledge and possible find someone with the same mindset to JV a deal with.I currently live in Pasadena, MD and work in Beltsville, MD and I see that MAREIA may be a good fit and the group seems pretty active but do any current/past members have any feedback as its a paid membership and I want to make sure there is value in it (most likely my wife and I would attend so we'd be looking at the couples rate)?

I've got the BP analysis tools as part of the pro membership, but there's a gaping hole in being able to actually do realistic analysis and that leads to my question:How can you estimate the rehab costs for analyzing deals? 

They also establish a pilot program of rental inspections, if a tenant complains to housing authority or code dept there is a $100 inspection fee no matter what.

First time is free and if you want to join after that there is a yearly membership cost.