Hdi explore and learn w/o annoying the socks off RE Agents

[Melicia Schauble]

Hi - relative newbie here.  I've been listening to podcasts  (Bigger Pockets, of course), reading books, etc in order to educate myself on RE investing.  I just finished Brandon Turner's book regarding investing with low or no money down, where I discovered the "lease option" option.  This might be something I'm interested in.  My husband and I started going to open houses and discussing the possibilities with the agents there.  Some of them were nice, and many of them were really annoyed. I like going to open houses because, for instance, I walked into this particular open house and I could immediately tell what was going on with the house, and after a few questions with the selling agent, I really had a good picture of the situation (in that instance, the home wasn't old but had terrible paint colors and trim.  If I had the money, I could probably make a low offer, and if they took the offer - I could also tell by the situation that they may be in a situation to take a lower offer - I could fix the trim and paint and a few small odds and ends and sell it for a profit).  I'm afraid to really put myself out there because I feel like I'm being a nuisance. I have the most awesome real estate agent, but I can't bother her every time I have a question lol.  She already spends far too much time tending to me. Another example:  there is a home in my neighborhood that, this weekend had a "for sale" sign in the yard.  We stopped by the open house and learned that the home is empty, and the owners are investors.  I mentioned the "lease option" and the realtor said "send me an offer and I'll take a look at it."  I didn't send him an offer because I'm afraid.  I'm afraid because 1) I don't know what I'm doing and 2) I'm afraid of over leveraging myself. (We have purchased 3 homes and an empty lot in the past year and a half and the last one, which was purchased 2 weeks ago, is not rented out yet).  But I would leverage myself more for the right deal!  Anyway, I noticed today (4 days after we visited the open house) that the sign is gone and the house is not on realtor.com anymore.  So I reached out to the real estate agent via text and asked what was going with the home and "did it sell" to which he replied, "Are you interested in buying the home" to which I replied that I wish I could but I don't have the funds right now, and he never responded.  Like "If you are not interested in buying the home, then leave me the hell alone!" And honestly, I totally get it.  I understand where he is coming from.  But I'm really interested in finding out what the heck is going on with it because I want to learn the game lol.  So, how do I learn how all of this works without annoying the hell out real estate agents when I'm not in a position to purchase?