Now I want to keep going but I am unsure about my next step.

as a newbie and who also wants to own my own properties before the end of 2018 I would like to know what your action steps/ method you used to get your feet wet in real estate and what did you learn ?

The answer is YES, and we will break it down step by step below.

I might have just complicated this, but I'm a bit confused what the steps are here.

Live and learn at that time  BP didn’t have bad reviews on him yet.If you have an empty lot after paying Morris for the entire house, you have a very solid lawsuit here that is worth pursuing immediately.

Any steps I should be taking before I purchase a home there?

That same attorney can guide you on other steps to take.

Now that I've gotten the a lot of the basics down it is time for me to take the next step.

This morning I was listening to a popular real estate investing podcast and they were discussing the many ways to finance a deal and step to get you finances in order before diving into REI.

It's up to the tenant to ensure they have sufficient funds, if a Cozy payment fails or a check bounces I then charge the tenant a fee (assuming this causes it to be late).If you're really concerned you can take what @Jonathan Cope does one step further and require payments on, say, the 25th in your lease.