Every day I wish I had "opened up my eyes" and picked up a book instead of an extra shift at work in my 20's after college.  

Where I'm from that would be a bizarre configuration, but the sheer numbers of these types of properties I've found during my search have me wondering if that's just the usual in other states?

In my area tenants are usually only responsible for electric and the owner pays W/S/T.

We have decided that paying a little extra and learning in the beginning will be the most valuable investment that we can make.We have an agent, but we might be shopping around for a new one soon.

We find that way, knowing that they can't get their price on the conventional market, they will be more open to hearing about alternative options.However if a Realtor refers us a seller or buyer, we'll pay them a referral fee of up to 25% of whatever we collect for a down payment (usually 3%-10% or the Purchase Price).Hope that helps,Chris Pre

They will pull your credit, usually from multiple sources.

Usual mortgage period (20 years).

Turnover rates are higher, chasing money can be the norm, units are usually turned back in rougher condition, vandalism, etc, etc.

Usually a maximum LTV of 70% or 75% is common in the commercial/investor property segment at a non-bank lender.

But for #1 yes your QI has to be in place prior to the closing of your sale (or the closing of the purchase if attempting a reverse exchange).There are usually several options for parking the property.1.