I am just a bit stressed as i have accepted his $500 partial payment for December rent. 

Sound's like they've done a lot of work to it though and that would make your maintenance pretty low as well as your stress level for your first deal. 

I'm pretty sure we could cover it for a year but it would probably be pretty stressful.

You can do it with a good management company or with a lot of traveling but you have to factor in cost of holding, traveling and stress factor.

The last piece of advice is to take your time and do not stress while taking the exams.

Also, my existing cash flow is enough to live on, so I don't want to buy properties in bad neighborhoods that will add stress to my life. 

Don't be worried about being approved in 30 minutes, sometimes I was able to do it in 15-20 just depending on the profile. if they approved your and you like the rate then no need to worry. the process can be very good and fast ,or very stressful if your LO has not set the proper expectations upfront.let me know if you have any further questions 

No real headaches, it certainly comes with some stress, but I like that part of it.

Do you homework, I can't stress this enough.

I know you feel financially limited and it's stressing you out because the AC is broken and you don't have $6,000 to fix it.