So after watching one particular motivated seller on Craigslist for a bit, whom I had contacted and kept in contact with, I pulled the trigger and signed purchase papers for the home at the price I felt comfortable with.

If you still have some anxiety, I posted a link to one of my posts that I wrote for the beginners waiting to pull the trigger.

As a current college student, you may be able to find some trustworthy peers to rent to for 3-4 years until they reach their degree.As to building your deal properly, you may only want to pull the trigger on a deal that you have a large enough buffer that you can drop rents if you need to fill a place fast.

The keyword "crap" brought me to this thread (just kidding).There's nothing like the stench of a hoarder tenant or occupant to singe your noise hairs.

My plan is to research the market this fall and pull the trigger on a deal early 2017. 

It's just a matter of picking a route and pulling the trigger! 

Whenever buyers' experience doesn't match their expectation (if if there's nothing *wrong*) things can be difficult.I could go on or go into details, but if the same deal came up again, I would definitely pull the trigger.  

Make sure you're a serious buyer and you can pull the trigger when a deal comes your way.

Don't give up your profit based on age, inexperience, or someone else's bad hair day.

@ Dylan - Dude, what are you waiting for - leverage your father expertise and pull a trigger?