The ARV was believed to be around $235k so my agent told me to try to stay all in around $176K.

I was a commercial agent until 2021, at which time I switched to corporate real estate. 

Having a solid team around you like agent, lender etc.

If you've only been a commercial agent for 6 months, you are just learning the basics.

You could also check what Realtors in your market are preferred agents here on BP- they should have at least a little experience with investing and a network built up. 

With Zach becoming our second Acquisitions agent, Jennifer doing Dispositions/Transaction Coordination, and Julie handling Marketing and all of the day to day operations, I was finally able to step back.

@Pat Aboukhalen was the agent there sorting it all out for him there after his previous agent missed it - so if you don' already have an investor-friendly agent there that's who I would use. 

In fact, if you qualify as a sole proprietor (real estate agent, broker, small business owner), you can have something called a solo 401k and use that to purchase property.

However, if the owner lives in Cuyahoga County or a contiguous county, the owner may be listed as the local agent in charge.

Right now for me, the focus is on flipping but only because I have the right agent and contractor, I could not be successful alone.