:D I am excited with the people i have talked to and look forward to progressing further.I would appreciate any suggestions or info you may have to offer, and what options you may have. 

Since you expressed an interest in flips, I added the link below for your reading pleasure.http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/01/07/flipping-houses/ (step by step guide to flips)To be more successful, you simply have to work on the other elements to progress your REI pursuit.

That might be worth it if the property is in the path of progress and likely to become more valuable.

@John Wulf if your goal is to accumulate enough cash flowing rentals for early retirement, paying off houses is going to slow your progress.

To be more successful, you simply have to work on the other elements to progress your REI pursuit.

I am definitely not an expert and I felt my questions/input would have slowed the progression of this great post down, so I stayed out of it.An update for what I have done so far:I called our gas company and I took advantage of their free energy audit.  

Brandon, I agree, RI and Providence in particular are grossly mismanaged but it seems the Providence landlord association has made some progress recently and hope to continue that trend. 

With that said, I am staying connected with the real estate agent and will make an offer as I progress on securing the funds.

Good luck, and keep us posted on your progress.

#progressive yet #antequated