As long as adequate thought is put forth, any question is game...Bird's eye view here - I would find out how long he/she has owned some of these properties.

Our end game is to both do this full time.

What kind of advice would you offer to a young individual still in college, that wants to enter the real estate game? 

The real estate industry really needs a change, a higher barrier to entry than a high school diploma and 90 hours of online training.

Investing is a numbers game and if you don't have numbers, you can't calculate the investment. 

Sounds to me like you are either speaking with a local conservative bank, or a misinformed individual.If you want to "play the credit game", one simple option is to open a credit card or 2, but don't use it. 

Can anyone point me in the direction of a lease agreement for Utah or where to create one online that you'd recommend?

SS planning is a different game altogether.Contributing to SS was one of those possible "good reasons" I implied.

So long as you don't chase the market right to the top like a million dopes did in 2007, over lever, and have substantial short term financing in place, you are ahead of the game.  

Has anyone had a success using the online auction system, and do you pay to do a title search for every bid, or do you do your own due diligence free free sources?