Credit/background checks will say a lot...

Just don’t say a hairdryer etc in the bathroom because we all know there must be gfci in the bathrooms and kitchens and I’m talking about the rest of the house.

Sometimes landlords ignore calls or landlords just say, "a better applicant was selected".

I would say a lot are from NY, California, or other more expensive markets.

I've found in many cases the margins in real estate are not good enough if management is an expense.As an alternate solution, and I'm not sure how many investors do this (I do, my partner lives out of state), but I would say a solution might be to partner with someone in the market you want to invest in.

But say a couple years go by and with a hot market the property is now worth $160,000.

Let's just say 'a cash flowing property in a good area' doesn't get you much deal flow.After that, I felt like a dumb dumb, but I quickly learned how important your investment criteria truly is when speaking to brokers.

On a 5 year deal worth 600,000 in rent maybe 24,000 fee of 4% of primary term lease value.Then say a transaction of 4 million for a broker commissions might be 100,000 for one deal.Then highest is a retail syndicator taking a fee going in, ongoing cash flow, and upside on the deal.It just seems a commercial retail attorney that charges by the hour and is familiar with STNL properties and negotiating renewals might work best for you.

Look into: getting an FHA loan (3.5% down) on a property (say a condo or town home): this is a marathon (if you choose to run one :) based on your answers to the questions above). 

I say a conventional 5%, if you can afford it, @Johnny Lasek.