22 year old recent college grad looking for help and guidance!

[Aaron Jernigan]

Hello! I am a 22 year old recent college graduate looking to purchase my first investment rental property for cash flow in the Atlanta, GA area. I am currently living in an apartment and my lease ends the first week of July. My plan is to purchase my first 4-unit multiplex with an owner occupant FHA loan (that will be gifted from my mom) and live there for a year while renting out the other 3 units (prefereably to students from Morehouse/Clark/Spelman/GState). A little background I have about 6k in student loans, a good credit score/history (above 700), and in May I will transition full time at my current job to a salary position of about 40k. Therefore, my plan God willing is to buy sometime in late May/ early June.

My questions are:

-When should I start really looking for properties? ( I casually search, zillow, trulia, etc. now but when should I really start the financing process and looking with agents &bank inventory such as foreclosures, MLS listings etc?) How long does the financing process take?

-Any good recommended neighborhoods I should look into in the Atlanta area? Preferably close to the city and/or colleges 

-How should I go about financing? I know I want to do an FHA 3.5% down loan but I don't really know where to start? With being young, fresh out of college, and having my first job, should I look out for any potential problems with financing

-Any recommended agents/lenders or real estate professionals in Atlanta  

I know that was alot but thank you so much! I am a young aspiring entrepreneur and real estate investor and would appreciate any advice.

-Aaron