To have a long lasting relationship, I always give them my honest opinions no matter what, and put money where my mouth is all the time to build trust.

With a small number of investment properties, I think it's wiser to spread the risk around.

Building a strong relationship with the seller can be advantageous when negotiating the terms of the transaction.The approach to property tours can vary based on deal marketing and location.

As far as the deal that you have now, I don't know if it's wiser to sell it or keep it.

Or is it generally wiser to put 10% down (or more) so the property at least breaks even?

I'm sure I'm missing a lot here.Questions for older wiser investors:What problems do you see with this?

I'm back, a few years later, but maybe wiser too...

Look for real estate meetups and groups in your area and start building relationships. 

I also see a lot of value in building strong relationships with local agents in each market, since they often have early or off-market leads.

Quote from @Tara Montgomery: These relationships for JV are really solid relationships, and something that are built on over the course of 6 months plus.