I’m going to outline my plan, or what I think will happen, and as an amateur on this topic, I want to know where I’m wrong/could use advice.Our combined income is in the $90k range.

Sorry, I’m a financing amateur.

But very few people can even be an amateur baseball player....and even less would be a professional. 

@David Lilley I was hoping to ask a few questions, and I apologize if I sound like an amateur (I am).

BP is a great source but you have to filter everything you hear because a lot of it comes from amateurs that regularly give bad advice.If you want to start educating yourself, I highly recommend Every Landlord's Legal Guide by NOLO.

I would greatly appreciate advice from you professionals because as you can see I am quite the amateur.  

All good deals, but the trick was to buy in distant counties where the pro's don't bother bidding (and amateurs as well). 

I'm a computer scientist / amateur investor from Nashville, TN and I have a rental property in Murfreesboro, TN.

One key difference between an amateur and a professional is one works for free and the other doesn't. 

I by no means am a amateur I'm pretty advanced in construction but even knowing just the basics would of made most peoples BS radar go off, saving them money.