Also I'm going to link to some friends and folks that I know might be able to be helpful:@Jay Hinrichs because I know he knows about timber and what it might be worth.

A lot of folks will also use friends and family money. 

Offer a contractor friend dinner to do the walkthrough have him write down and Quote possible issues as he sees them have him go over the systems the basement and roof with a fine tooth comb .

Basically just write out what kind of investing you want to do (flipping, wholesaling, buy and hold, etc), when do you want to invest (now, 6 months from now, in a year), how frequently do you want to invest (one house a year, one house a month, etc.), where you want to invest, what kind of properties do you want to invest in, and so forth.

Since banks are not friendly to this kind of property, how would you go about financing the repairs.

   $1.5MM25% Down would be $375KIt was suggested to me to speak with the owners (who I know - they are personal friends) about Owner Carry for $250K.Does this mean A) The $250K is subtracted from the original purchase price and therefore I would have to come up with 25% of $1.25MM  or..B) Out of the $375K down the owner would carry $250K and I would have to put $175K down on the deal ?

I am looking at my first Off Market Mutli from a couple friends who have not put it on market. 

I feel the second a huge storm hits, your insurance company will be your best friend and you will be out for a long time.How do you manage owning a rental property in shore towns, dealing with water and freak actions of mother nature.Thanks,Cody

Make friends with some real estate agents, agents that are familiar with the investing side and they hopefully will be glad to help you on comps.

Please click on the links, give them a read, and share your thoughts in the comments.First is a post that I feel will help not get overwhelmed with the amount of info that is here on BP:https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/5868/52761-the-simple-guide-to-getting-started-on-bpThe second is a post that will help get you focused with your real estate investing goals:https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/5868/52743-im-new-to-bp-any-advice-would-be-appriciatedThe last one is a post that will help you choose an “investor friendly” real estate agent.