I want to take a year to have relationships ready, raise my familiarity with the process, and learn what not to buy before I start making deals.Any major flaw to this in Albuquerques market?

We will underwrite the building using solid/conservative information on gross income (what are market rates, can we raise rents over 2-3 years, what reno needed to get to market, how do are units stack up compared to others, what is market vacancy, etc.), what we can achieve not what the current owner has done.   

Is it easy to get credit cards in Canada?

I was born and raised in the Oakland area so I know the market really well.

Additionally we have gotten ourselves in a bit of debt and could use the profits from the sale of the house to clean up our current finances (about 15k in credit card bills). 

@Ned Carey raises an important perspective weighing the benefits of what someone brings to the deal skill wise - but the actual duties performed by these "partners" are another consideration.

All of these folks have to interact in a timely fashion, and then the whole project has to not raise your PITI beyond the "self sufficiency" guidelines of the loan. 

If you were the licensed agent asking if you could offer $100 gift cards to people for bringing you a lead, I would caution you.

And once you accept the lower rent it will be harder to raise it.  

To name few features, you can connect your bank & credit card account(s) to QBO to automatically download the transactions daily, set up rules for any recurring charges, setup recurring transactions (ie invoices to tenants), sent out reminder (individual or batch), accept online payments (cc & bank) which can be tenant or landlord initiated, track multiple income sources (ie. flip, rental, wholesale), track individual properties, charge tenants for reimbursable expenses, track 1099 contractors (and e-file tax forms), and create a budget.