I'd love to hear any advice from the more experienced folks what I should be doing now to be ready to buy in the next 2 years. 

With many homebuyers waiting, this could make now a good time to jump into the market to find deals. Check out this video

They are NOT going to make an owner whole unless you buy a replacement specific policy.So again, let's not jump to conclusions, just ask your PMC what legal reason compels them to depreciate tenant damage charges.

@Andrew Brown where have you been buying already?

I have an opportunity to buy a property subto.

Entitlements are buying time.  

If you are buying land, watch the environmental.

So I started trying to get creative on how to create a win-win-win for all.Here’s how it went down:I got the sellers to agree to an asking price of $180k, a full $40k over what they originally wanted.In the offer, we included a seller credit of $34k.This strategy allowed me to cover the extra commission for both the buying and selling agents and ensure the seller got exactly the cash they wanted should they have sold it at 140k.With the seller credit, this reduced my total out-of-pocket expense to just $6k.I used a commercial DSCR loan product with a local bank.

There you will be asked your criteria and then after answering a few questions you will be matched with 3-5 agents or loan officers in your area.

The process usually goes like this:Rental Listing -> Landlord and Prospective Tenant fill out and submit RTA -> Voucher office performs Affordability Study -> Landlord approves estimated rent amount -> Property Inspection -> Approval of Property by Voucher Office -> Lease & Move-InThe section 8 process in/around Baltimore and Baltimore County does take a long time these days.