I would like to know some good books or effective ways of educating yourself without going to the gurus.

I know one do = maintain a limit before you begin bidding and don't = change your bid maximum so you can stay focus and remove any emotion.

To Whom it May Concern,We are taking out a HELOC in order to upgrade our house, and to maintain liquidity in the event that anything else comes up, including family emergencies.

Ask the tenants to confirm the reported rents on the rent roll (i.e. get estoppels).Verify the rents aren't more than 5% above market rent for comparable units to ensure that as units turnover, you can re-tenant and maintain your cash flow. 

You are correct as inventory is increasing, and will effect the supply/demand equation.

Once complete, we also need a property management company to maintain the long term rental.

I couldn't give you a simple answer that would help you- you've gotta build your own recipe.Overall: Efficient but effective marketing.

We bought that loan and got our AOM to the FC attorney in 2 weeks.If you are a small investor and have a competent attorney, you can drastically reduce the timeline to FC because you're minimizing the effects of 2 of the 3 factors. 

Her rent is $1500/month and I pay Arian’s $2100 with the mortgage and maintainence.  

The only thing I can offer would be my time, I can help if your doing a rehab (moving things, construction, maintaining, etc.)