While I'm in a similar situation with it being a foreclosure that has some minor upgrade potential, I'm not in love with the house and starting to regret tying up a lot of cash in it.

Potential income would put me at ~$-900 negative cash flow.  

Recently, I’ve started to view my 15-mile training runs through nearby neighborhoods as a sort of prospecting method —a foot tour of sorts— helping me determine neighborhoods I might be interested in investing in.My goal with Bigger Pockets is simple — I hope to learn from other investors within the community, leverage the tools and resources to improve my ability analyze potential deals (to help my 40-something-year-old-self gain the confidence to do what my 20 something-year-old-self knew was possible long ago) and contribute to the community where I can with the experience I have.  

I am in discussions with a potential seller.

The only reason I did not move forward was because I want to use leverage for my purchases while they prefer cash, and while their COO Peter was very cool and said they could potentially do my deals, the loan had a balloon payment at the end which is not the type of loan I am looking for.

Those brain storming sessions that take a long time to just form the name but then the vision of the company is clear and has a real brand and market potential. 

Buy or inherit and hold for a long time, then cash out and redeploy equity into potentially higher cash flowing properties or other investments.2.

Make sure to network with nearby investors here https://www.biggerpockets.com/meet, it would help in finding potential partners and mentors

Just make sure they specialize in tax and have significant experience dealing with real estate investors.Here is a great list of questions to ask a potential accountant: http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/51/topics/70447-questions-to-ask-a-cpaAlso check out the www.NAEA.org page in your search.

Sounds like you have a potentially good thing going if you rework the financials.