There are a ton of white label platforms out there with varying cost.

Real estate opportunities can vary by market, and your access to funds.  

What is required can vary greatly from one state or municipality to another.Review the terms of the expired lease.

This varies between lenders, but generally they use 75% of the rental income (ex. rent is 1,000$, they include 750$ in your DTI) until you get a full year of rental income, then they can report the full 1k in your DTI.3.

If you google it, there is a list of around 8 different states that are currently landlord friendly BUT just be careful because states like Florida that are landlord friendly still vary based on the county.  

Quicken is about the worst lender out there.On an investment loan expect to pay elsewhere in the range of 5% which will vary based on down payment, credit and dti ratio.

Otherwise you're putting some degree of trust into a group of folks with a financial interest in you making the purchase.

I have two right now that look like they could be a profitable deal for me but I'm hesitant to put in an offer because I'm unsure of the realistic values because other home sales nearby seem to vary quite a bit and I don't have a ton of info on the other properties that have been sold.

I have a postgraduate degree but it's a PhD in science.  

Whether you should start closer to their payout amount, or your Maximum Allowable Offer, will vary depending on the "feel" you get from them along the way.