Can anyone recommend the best way to accomplish this?

You've run into a Debt to Income issue most likely.Depending where you are located, what you want to accomplish and how involved you will be in real estate there are different answers.

Congrats on your savings accomplishment thus far! 

I have a family also, so house hacking is not the easiest thing to accomplish under normal circumstances.

Does anyone know a good reference business plan or format in which to use that showcases what I'm trying to accomplish?

We would like to get a gas station back on it.What would be the best way to target that and get that accomplished?

Sure, excel is great, but some software services provide beautiful reports that make for excellent organization of financial figures and great investor presentation. 

Trying to find what is the most advantageous way to accomplish my goals.

They are already beasts in the real estate world (too many steps ahead for me to be good accountability to them).I'm looking for a master mind group or something along those lines in which myself and others can accomplish the 4th point above.

You accomplish two things this way:You are provided with important information before making your offerYou build STRONG RAPPORT first - this way, you don't create antagonism in case you offer is too lowask questions about the condition of the property, finance, layout, etc, anything that gets him to talk and teach you more about the property.