And if you are dealing with a difficult seller, and a shady sellers realtor, you'll be the one screwed over.  

They think every other deal they come across is priced $50,000 below market value2.

Now, that said, let's give the contrary view, and why I wouldn't personally do that deal:-Limited appreciation potential for at least 3 years on this property based on location and demand, and no opportunity for forced appreciation-Risk with Section 8 on cap ex -I look for cash neutral on 15 to 20 year notes-positive cash flow of 144/month does not excite me, especially since I prefer appreciation potential -I avoid rentals that require more than $2000/month in rent to work given lack of demand at that price point in North AlabamaAgain, I ran this example just for educational purposes. 

I would definitely shop more, neither of those deals make sense to me. 

Get a lender, enter into contract, close escrow, enjoy your new home. if you have less than 30 days, you would need the seller's cooperation to contact the foreclosing entity to see if they will postpone to give you time to close the deal. it's not guaranteed and the lender is under no obligation to do so but if everyone wins (seller sells, lender gets paid off in full, you get a home), most lenders will provide a small window of time to get it done.

I also think I am dealing with August in general.... and as a northerner miscalculated the start of school in my head. 

I'm not saying that I favor this over buy and hold rental properties, but this seems to be a great solution for reinvesting an old self directed IRA that I have.

BP has various tools to help you analyze your deals (rentals, flips, wholesale, etc). : https://www.biggerpockets.com/investment-calculators7.

Can someone please help me with some directions on exactly which podcast to start off with. 

Your time is better spent doing a deal than it is figuring how much money you might make if you did deals.