However, these educational tools should be used with precise goals in mind.

In a very large search area of North/northwest vegas it was slim pickings. 

Since you seem averse to using debt leverage (very bad idea, by the way), you may try searching Bigger Pockets for an Apartment Syndicator in your area to invest with.

I hate doing financial modelling and found a pretty good/detailed fillable sheet here: https://www.eloquens.com/tool/zQBT7a/finance/real-...It's not the prettiest, but it shines a light on what your ROI and IRR look like.

I search the MLS for key words such as owner financing and seller financing, but it doesn't seem to be that much on the market.

It's worth a Google search to check out some of the demo's and such. 

IF any thing comes up in the search then thats when my questions come up that will require clarification on their part.

You can do a search here on BP and find other posts on the topic with other unsatisfied customers.

My wife and I are currently searching for our first investment property after about a year and a half of soaking up all the knowledge we can.

If there is time to make your offer you might have the title searched to make sure there are no other liens that need to be taken care of.Unless you feel that owner will not be angry if he finds out that you are assigning the contract for profit, you might want to budget for 2 closings if you feel the possibility of him being angry about you making money.