There's a common belief that your tax person should also be an investor themselves.

I can see how an application fee per person can be a deterrent for applicants in my case whether for more upscale rentals people may see it as more normal.I am starting off as a non-refundable fee and measure the resistance, then adjust if needed.

Do you rely more on the deal itself or the person behind it?

We take a "whole person" approach.

I have about 100k in assets both personal and business I could sell, but part of me thinks that’s extreme and I’ll sell “myself” along the way with all my stuff.  

. -- lots of factors to consider (including your personal strategy), but here are a few high level metrics to compare the most populous zip codes in HuntsvilleWelcome to drop me a message if you are interested in checking out the full report 

I leveraged my owned land to build my personal home.

However, he asked me to sign a one-year Exclusive Right to Represent agreement, as presented to him by his brokerage.His interpretation is that it applies only when he materially assists me, but I think the boilerplate brokerage language he was given reads much more broadly:"If during the term of this Agreement Buyer enters into a contract for the purchase of Property through the services or efforts of the Broker or Buyer’s Brokerage Firm, or by or through any other persons during the term of this Agreement" (emphasis mine).My concern is that, under my interpretation, if a fellow real estate investor wants to unload a property or if I get pointed to an opportunity by a former agent, colleague, or friend, this agreement could create an obstacle to moving forward with the deal.In the end, I didn’t sign.

The key is to identify personal property from real property.

By themselves, improvements to property you own are considered to by personal property and not real property.