@Omar Khan provided a great read on vetting a sponsor. 

Read J Scott's Book on Flipping Houses before you go any further.

Current Situation:My offer has been accepted and I have 9 days of due diligence remaining.My Ask:Without reading “The Book on Investing in Real Estate with No (or Low) Money Down” YET...What are some methods/strategies to lower my upfront costs for the down payment, while not getting beat up on interest rates?

Basically, you are stuck in limbo until the the case is dismissed because the automatic stay prevents you from foreclosing.I've read that some borrowers (especially the ones that are legitimately trying to pay their debts) will file a POC on behalf of creditors, which they are allowed to do.

@Benjamin Hauser   At first read I thought you might have a builder in mind. 

Read your posts from the beginning to where we are at now and see how certain you seem on the numbers.And yes, I am more than familiar with how to increase the value (rolls eyes).  

@Medi Sarwary If you haven't already I would suggest reading some books that go more in depth about loans and utilizing the BRRRR method.

One of my favorite quotes by Jim Rohn is, "Your level of success will seldom exceed your level of personal development".If I was coaching my younger self, this is what I would recommend: Read Brandon Turner's book on Rental Property Investing https://www.amazon.com/Book-Rental-Property-Investing-Passive-ebook/dp/B018UTI2DOListening to the BP Real Estate podcast https://www.biggerpockets.com/podcastListening to the BP money podcast https://www.biggerpockets.com/moneyshowAttend your local REIA meetings to networkStart analyzing deals to get practiceEngage more on the BP forumsAll the best!

Really excited onthe info I’m reading , resources etcReally great too be here

I've read many articles and heard many gurus about achieving financial freedom by doing businesses in real estate.