Would love to hold for the long term.

Very very very rarely are there nice beautiful move in ready homes or land available....it can happen, but rare.Also think about how long you will have to hold it and what the cost of holding it will be. 

Investment Info:Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Right now in a partnership you'd either need a mentor/consultant to guide you throughout all aspects of the deal and partnership or wait and hold the land for now and gain the necessary experience to maximize your profits on this land in the future.

Investment Info:Townhouse buy & hold investment.

There information is contained in the GIS links.it is the most efficient way to determine if there are any properties that match your need.Off market properties hold greater appeal to me.

Over the last few months I've become highly interested in investing, specifically flipping but also rentals, wholesales, buy & hold etc...

The person you spoke with may be referencing earnest money deposit (buyer showing the seller they have skin in the game; this can be refundable or non refundable).Some lenders require an application fee (junk fee) and those lenders typically are more expensive to begin with.

If you buy now while rates are high when they do drop, real estate  will seem like a much easier game and you will have more experience for that next one as well. 

If you were all in at $355K including closing and holding costs .