Ever been to a for sale home with great photos and been very disappointed?

You mention your looking at Tampa - is that where you currently are?

Plus, the homes near me are very expensive, I don't plan on doing live-in/rent-out.I spoke with a family friend, who has worked as a lawyer on real estate deals, and she mentioned that I'll be 'missing out on first-time home-buyer' perks if my first purchase is a rental.Could someone shed some light on what these perks might be?

I see you are in OC, I am in the central valley as @Jo-Ann Lapin mentioned.

They're offering $43,000, after all fees.As mentioned before, the current mortgage balance is $99,000.

This is the time to build skills that will keep you from wasting that money you're saving.Also, you don't mention what your strategy is, but whether it's flipping or buy and hold, you're likely going to have to deal with renovations/repairs with any property you acquire. 

As Hadar mentioned the smell could get pretty nasty. 

I've read over forty books on real estate investing in the past two years and "What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know About Cash Flow" is the only one that even mentioned IRR.

As mentioned there are a number of investing groups too.

(CMA) and a possible selling range. 2. work out for what Cap-rate similar properties are selling in the area and estimate that based on your NOI. 3. ask an appraisal for desk top valuation, for the reasons you mentioned above. tel him/her that if the appraisal is on track you will commission full appraisal.