I want to have reserves on hand before going into it instead of having just enough for a down payment and closing costs.

The interest rate is reasonable.Dealing with banks, they are very hands on; particularly with income verification.The bank should do its own environmental assessment based on the environmental survey you provide. 

On the plus side, you see more deals by default and you  also learn the transaction process first hand.

@Alan Miegel it sounds like you want to be pretty much hands off and cash flow focused in a local market. 

The homeowner would like to sell to my sister or another "nice family" rather than just hand the property over to the bank.

Many lenders don't like Title changing hands rapidly. 

I am dedicated and ready to do my diligence first hand.

Whenever they had questions about taxes or anything else real estate, or even just needed a second set of hands to unload materials out of their truck I helped them in any way I could.

The change of work specifically states the issue at hand, what is necessary to fix the issue and the increased cost to the original contractual agreement (material and Labor). 

I too am an engineer so I know you have your hands full with school, but BiggerPockets is a great resource to add to your education.