Seems to me like there should be some way of getting it done quicker.

If he is truly motivated he will tell you he needs to sell much quicker than that and hopefully give you a time frame.I also like to get an idea of how much they feel the houses are worth.

I'd make a bet that I could become financially free building and scaling my business in real estate a heck of a lot quicker than climbing my way up the corporate ladder. 

I had a house under contract about 2 months ago and everything fell through at financing stage due to banks bureaucracy (foreign earned income and having relevant tax returns in place, they didn't accept the prior years returns and needed the lastest ones but we file for tax season here 3-6 months after the US so its a mistiming, I have resolved this and will be back next month with another offer), so the only advice I can offer from my limited experience is that ensure you know exactly what is required from a financing stage, and private lenders are generally more flexible and will more able get you into your investment quicker (at a higher cost).Would be great to hear how you investment forray into the US goes!

So what I'm doing is manually typing the addresses in and names of the owners in the spreadsheet and I was wondering if there was a quicker way of doing this?

This typically makes the process easier and smoother on the investor and allows you to move quicker. 

They are quicker to list, cost you less out of pocket and helps a homeowner in need.

Can’t decide if I should rent And hold or try and find a foreclosure and flip to recoup my money quicker to start.

You can accelerate depreciation benefits through cost segregation, Structure loans for quicker amortization depending on your goals and many other tricks.I realize this is very different from Dave Ramsey but I thought I would at least put it out there for you and others to read.

You’re right about how much quicker I could make big purchases if only I lived in them for a year.