Longtime lurker from Michigan (Lansing)

[Alex Porrett]

Hello BP, I'm Alex.

Since becoming a member of BiggerPockets last July, I've spent countless hours listening to the BP podcasts, reading the BP books, and using the MLS and other resources to learn more about my market. Unfortunately, you can only learn so much from the latter, so I'm reaching out to you guys for some assistance.

I'm originally from the east side of the state (Port Huron) but moved to Lansing after college to work as a policy adviser in state government. I've never owned real estate, but I'm very interested in house hacking for my first purchase. My goal is to buy a house before my lease is up in September - though I'm hoping it doesn't take that long.  

Here are some of my questions: 

1. Can you recommend a real estate agent that is friendly to newbie investors?

2. Are there an abnormally high amount of rental vacancies in the area right now? Do you have any trouble filling your vacancies? Is the 1bed/1bath unit market oversaturated? 

3. Are there any networking events in the area? 

4. Are there a lot of wholesalers around Lansing? 

If you have any additional advice please don't hesitate to contact me.

Thanks!