I will try to find a mentor or someone experienced to partner with on my first few deals (and maybe more).

Excited about the opportunity to learn with those in this page that are experienced and willing to share their knowledge. 

An experienced house hacker in a 4-plex who is also accounting savvy might give you a pretty good answer, but a CPA who handles lots of RE clients would be best.For FHA loans I think the PMI does not go away, but I could be wrong - most likely you will need to refinance at some point to get out of PMI.  

It's great to have experienced folks join the site!

I have seen once a new inspector, was being supervised by another more experienced inspector, and they seemed to nit-pick more. 

Though I am not entirely experienced in this subject, I recall from some of the podcasts that larger banks like BoA can sometimes offer lower interest rates on their products under certain circumstances compared to a smaller bank or portfolio lender. 

BP has some of the most experienced, and intelligent real estate investors, lenders, partners, developers, contractors, property managers, architects, etc. anywhere.

I'd like to find something small and manageable to learn how to landlord before getting into a bigger deal.I look forward to just lurking around the forums and learning a lot, and maybe popping in with some questions to learn from the more experienced members here."

That is not me, I am a real estate professional however proving it requires being an Ivy league experienced lawyer.

I would love to sit down will some experienced  people and or find some groups in my area that get together for things like this.