If the property has a good 3 year track record of financials,  low vacancy,  and not too much work it sounds like a good deal. 

I realize we already discussed our interest in discontinuing our lease, but we decided that it would be in our best interest financially if we stayed for the time being.

If you know you want to do real estate you might be better served with a business degree of some sort (finance) as you're going to get into lots of financial analysis to determine good deals vs. bad and more. 

How much time is your chosen strategy going to take once it's achieved your financial goal?

It is a absolute must that you perform a thorough credit, employment, income, previous landlord, financial and employment background check.

But after more research I did decide that it would be the best way for me to network and get some hands on experience about real estate investing and my market while reducing my financial risk. 

*looks at her bookshelf* Of his, I read (according to my bookshelf)- The ABCs of Real Estate Investing, Guide to Investing, OPM- Other People's Money, Real Estate Loopholes, Increase Your Financial IQ, Before You Quit Your Job, SalesDogs, and The Advanced Guide to Real Estate Investing.

These are large scale financial assets, many time with emotional attachments.

You don't need to do a lot of deals to reach your financial goals.

If you have a legal description (full-legal-description, including plat # or survey), I can assist on getting an abstractor's report, which pulls all instruments filed in the real property records on that parcel.