I just know when we visited the friends farm and he outlined about $80,000 in income he was getting for land that no one was using and as a real estate investor, that just seemed amazing to me.Getting paid for doing nothing from the government, getting people to buy his grass and he backs up to a landlocked nature preserve, so he gets paid by the government again to drive across his land so they can get to the nature preserve that they are studying for something. 

I'd have the $7,000 paid back to myself in 4-5 years and then it's basically a free house.

Just found out today the owner does this himself right now...So basically $50 in the hole each month other than $500 a month principal pay down.

We also host happy hours and basics in real estate investing events about every other month. 

As I am very new to this whole investing thing, what other basic things should I be looking at to accurately value my current home?

Do some basic internet research and see what cities/markets fit your investment plan and then contact an agent for help.

So basically I would need to start with a partner that has done a deal or a maybe a 4 unit if going in alone?

Basically, this is where experiences folks shine and the non-experiences ones get left behind. 

I plan to transfer companies of the same profession but until I do will be making the commute between home and work 2 hr drive.

In my opinion, the transactional cost of buying and selling properties in Mexico (basically trading houses) might make it very challenging to make good profits if you are buying and selling as a foreigner.