Your PM took it upon themselves to shaft you for their benefit.For the time being your first step is to give notice to your PM terminating their contract.

Although I haven't done any rentals yet, I would agree that tenant selection is probably the most crucial step here. 

You and your husband used it for its intended purpose and now you find yourself in what is a completely legitimate situation for a military couple with him deploying and you finding work somewhere else.Unless your loan agreement specifically says you can't rent it out before 1 year, there's no reason to wait an extra couple of months once deployment rolls around and you pursue work elsewhere. 

Once you've ID'd that, which I'm sure you have at this point, you can start taking the next steps.Regardless of the strategy you are using, the next step would be to analyze deals and watch your market (wherever it is) to get to know it like the back of your hand so you're ready to make an offer when the opportunity strikes.

What a broker will not take seriously is someone not knowing how big a property they are looking for and why, what markets and sub-markets they want to invest in and why, and what strategy will they be pursuing and why.- There's no problem in being a newbie, we all started as newbies.

So, this is one of my first few steps on my road to financial freedom.

I am getting ready to visit my first few properties as an investor :) Pretty pumped to be taking an actual step instead of reading and listening to podcasts (which are still great by the way). 

First, I'd get the bank to put in writing, on letterhead, that they wouldn't pursue the Due on Sale clause.

First step is look at comparable properties that are in prime condition and see what they sell for.

Building your team is step one.