I am determined to become successful in my endeavors and am seeking any and all information outlets to guide me on my path.

We both come from the medical field and have come to realize that we won't reach our financial goals continuing our current path.

I am not a fan of trying to get a property under contract, until you have a clear exit path. 

I am NOT paying for the guru help, and instead I am going to follow the path as it is laid out before me from Bigger Pockets and its members. 

That is, if I don't have the right resources and time to expend to get the desired result, then it probably isn't appropriate for me to pursue that path.)Now of course my "business advisor" is telling me that I didn't do the course right, because I didn't pre-screen the 1,501 properties to make sure they were in livable condition before making my offer.That way I don't fit the criteria for a full refund per the 12-month $12,000 guarantee and have to pay the 10% restocking fee for the 30-day return policy.So that's why I want to find out what the true experiences of members who have purchased Rob Swanson's course is before plunging in and spending another $997.

At the numbers you presented, even at a 7 cap rate the property isn't worth 360k until year 7 (if you assume rents grow at 3% a year and expenses grow at 2% a year) and you have negative cash flow for the first 2 years.Since it's a 1980 property, I'm assuming it's not on the bleeding edge of the path of progress and I'm assuming it's not a A class property (a 5 cap is usually reserved for high demand areas and A class properties).Unless you're very certain the rental rate growth is substantial, I wouldn't buy this property for anywhere near what they are asking for it.

I think I would feel way in over my head, although I could probably quit my current day job if I went down that path.

In your particular case, since it seems the Mortgagee is MIA either path probably works.  

bear in mind, some mortgage contracts has a " due on sale " clause, so if you plan to catch up his back payments and then sign a land contract, the bank may exercize their right to call in the mortgage. you need to check this out. if you are paying off his mortgage and taking ownership of the house, great, its pretty simple. just get a lawyer to draft up the papers and cut his bank a check and its pretty straight forward. give us all a few more details here and we can help you out

I have done a few real estate deals and have done most of the work myself as I have always thought that's the most cost effective way.As I look to grow my portfolio, I won't be able to continue doing it all myself and hope to build a trusted teamI am very fair,  easy going and straight forward and prefer to deal with a similar type of person.