Great topic.In my experience I have seen some very inexperienced investors stumble through a deal (to their credit) in spite of their negotiating skills.Their biggest weapon was coming at the discussions from the place of how they could solve the sellers problem(s).Of course... those that developed more advanced negotiating skills not only increase their profits, they also got more deals to the closing table.One of my all time favorite negotiating books, one that I require all of my clients to read, is The Secrets of Power Negotiating by Roger Dawson.

No application fee.We are also ready, if need be, to purchase and hold the property if the closings can't be done the same day.

If I could find the $150K, I'd buy it and keep it for cash flow, but I haven't had much luck and I don't want to get hard money since its my first deal and I'm not ready to tread those waters.Questions–1.

He listed it before it was even ready and surprisingly people booked. 

Then get ready to write a ton of offers!

Once the account is funded, you're ready to invest.

If the unit is in move in ready condition you do not need much but normally a one month vacancy would be required to get a unit fully ready if the tenant has been in place a extended period of time.

His aim is to get a cash out land loan, so that his debt service is low while he gets planning done/gets shovel ready.  

I'm new to BP and just like a lot of people, I have read books, have been to YouTube University, and now I'm ready to start investing!

I get that there might not be any way to really 'know' when I'm ready, but the more I read/listen/learn, there does seem to be a pattern of fairly common problems people run across, or steps that they have to take.My current goal is to try to buy my first rental property before my next birthday in May.