Would you say there are opportunities there for a first timer that warrant pulling money from an HYSA earning 5.5%?

It is now going to May and I haven't   received money towards the mortgage and i even contributed to the utilities (silly me not wanting to get in trouble).

The reality is that you need money for a lot more than the down payment.

In addition the buyers had to go through a year long class on money management and how to keep their credit good and so on and so forth.. this program is NOT designed for investors although it says its open to anyone who makes below the median income I believe and you can have crappy credit most do. 

You will then have a few options with that rent money....you can put it into principal or you can start saving it to purchase yet another property.

You will then have a few options with that rent money....you can put it into principal or you can start saving it to purchase yet another property.

One makes fast money, the other brings long-term wealth.

I think one area people also make the mistake of is spending money on a guru before they even know if this is what they want to do.

First and foremost, I want to learn as much as possible about real estate investing before putting any of my money into it.

I would recommend looking at how much money you could make as a STR vs LTR & then deciding if it's worth the effort to do STR vs LTR.