New From Dallas... Newbie Questions

[Elliott Wolf]

Hello, 

Hopefully I can get some help here. As the title says I live in the DFW area... no properties yet but I am looking to secure my 1st duplex or triplex so I can live in one side and rent out the other using an FHA loan.

So I recently saw a property I liked on Zillow, messaged for more details using the automated service and they got back to me with an automated agent and lender. With the DFW market seeming very competitive with multi family homes based on the research and browsing I've done on various listing sites, is it better to find an agent and lender first? 

That way you can get properties sent to you that are off market and not listed on Zillow, Trulia, etc? Seems as though if you message the listing on Zillow for example, you are given a lender and agent by default which may not be the best? Also, what is the best way to vet lenders? Are they all typically the same or is there advantages to doing your due diligence with vetting potential lenders for a property? This is all new to me, sorry if these are rookie questions but a bit confused on the process leading up to buying my first property and do not want to make any rookie mistakes. 

Any help or links to a thread on here would be appreciated. I hope to continue to post and document my journey with Real Estate on Bigger Pockets and excited to be here!