I even give them the option to blur out the pricing on the contract just to show how honest my intent is.I am looking for deals.  

There may or may not be real property assets.There are asset-less estates occasionally opened in order to facility a wrongful death matter. 

They pop on MLS occasionally but most are found off MLS and this can take some effort.  

Occasionally there are some gems on there. 

It may be easier to think of estate building as as a dynamic, organism that grows (and may occasionally contract) and needs to be feed and nurtured and occasionally pruned of dead growth. 

I have occasionally tried getting in contact with one of them to try to find a flip deal and I can't tell you I have had an ordinary interaction yet!

Great for out of staters (just ignore my occasional yellow letter to absentee owners). 

I am looking for advice on what I can do while I am younger to make myself better prepared for investing in the future, because the last thing that I want to do is graduate college and find myself utterly unprepared for anything (granted, I will be unprepared for many things, but the goal here is to be prepared for as much as possible.)I don't spend much, for the most part I put gas in my parents' Prius every now and then and I buy the occasional movie ticket or candy bar - but I save most of my paycheck.So, my biggest question is, what can I do to set myself up for success?

The only time a hard money loan makes sense for rental property is if you are rehabbing to refi and keep yourself as Joe said (and occasionally an exceptional deal where the cost of the capital is eclipsed by your increased money costs). 

EXCEPTION: I would be willing to do an occasional flip for capital.My short-term goal, to be quite honest, is just to get one good deal under my belt.