I know I'd feel more comfortable having them now so I can hear where the ARV more accurately would be.

But I'd suggest you hold off a bit on buying anything until you're a little more comfortable with coming up with estimates and ARV numbers - even moreso if its a flip.

Are you welcome as an owner and an investor and are you comfortable with the rules?

I went as far as to have my paycheck split to where I live off 1/2 my earnings with the other half going directly into my real estate account.It taught me to comfortably live on less and made payday more exciting.It's awesome to see young people so forward focused!

Depending on what that real threshold is, there may be alternatives with a first lien that might be more 'comfortable'.  

For me to feel comfortable in buying the next buy-and-hold property, I need an emergency fund, and I save up to 25% for the next  down payment for the next property, as well a couple thousand in reserves for make-ready, marketing, and vacancy on a new purchase.

The MOST that I am seeing is 75% LTV and most banks are not comfortable with big cash outs. 

I have become pretty comfortable with understanding how to serve our needs by managing real property from far away.

Finally after feeling comfortable with all the forums and articles I've read, I'm ready.

It takes a lot of work to learn a market, and assemble a team to feel comfortable in buying a house thousands of mils away.