@Jeremy Horton First of all I will like to Congratulate you because you are already doing what many wanna be investors don't do very often (Analyzing Deals).Yes, 90% of great market has been very competitive since March 2020 due to low inventory (The Law of Demand and Supply) and historically low interest rate (money is cheap).Since you did not specify your market, I will suggest you may try any or combination of the following and see it it helps your situation:Increase your down-paymentBe more realistic with CapEx (If property is newer or recently remodeled)Manage it yourself for the first 1 year if possibleIdentify and work with honest and experience wholesalersPut in some sweat equity if you have the risk tolerance and willing to take that route.Goodluck and don't give-up.

I found a 5-unit in the greater Twin Cities area for $330k where combined rents are $3,800 per month.

It meant they were unprepared.2 - My tagline at the bottom of all my emails:"The things that come to those who wait, are the things that are left behind, by those that get there first".I feel your answer is a combination of both of the above two thoughts.

Consider a combination of options.

For instance, do you:...highlight/underline snippets you think are important and then combine all those notes in a single word document(or notebook) to be reviewed later?...

Combined rents of 2k at a price of 100k looks nice on the surface. 

We have used Dickie Baldwin (Baldwin Advisory Group), Accurate Group, SGPNow.com (Safeguard), DataTree, Raven Spatial, and others to get some combination of BPO/property condition report, drone imagery, desktop appraisal, AVM, etc.

I’d focus on income verification - lots of people have funny money these days from asset appreciation (micro cap stocks, crypto, etc.) but may not have as much verifiable income (you’d want $250k+ combined income at the minimum).

My husband and I both have w-2 jobs combined $250,000+....what am I missing?

Weirdest things that I found in those were: a home made long bow, a sex swing along with various flavored lubricants, drugs and associated paraphernalia, a room full (and I mean FULL) of old newspapers and magazines just thrown in and a dead parakeet in a freezer.