Take what you want from it but my year of research has lead me to this conclusion. 

More than half say that the few quality assets available are overvalued.I present the conclusions of the study, Trends in the Real Estate Market in Europe 2017, prepared by PwC and the Urban Land Institute:TRENDS OF THE REAL ESTATE MARKET IN 2017The expectations of investors in the European real estate market in 2017 are marked by the lower availability of quality assets, lower economic growth and lower profitability:It remains a very attractive market thanks to the relationship between risk and profitability, but most respondents believe that last year's profit levels will not be reached.Investors believe that the impact of Brexit will be limited to the British real estate market and will not significantly affect investments in the rest of the EU:To the question of which alternative sectors can be attractive for investors, the most frequent answers are: Accommodation for students,hotels,nursing homes,shared service offices.Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain are the three most attractive European countries to invest.

@Jason V.You asked some very valid questions, and those are exactly what i asked myself the last 2-3 months....And my conclusion is commercial is so much more risky, and now is a horrible time to get into it....

I'm new to RVA as well, and have talked to most of the people in this thread and have come to the same conclusion...there's very little for sale in Richmond that makes sense to buy!

You are probably better off tracking population changes and permits granted, projects started and projects completed.Even if you find a pattern, the extreme distortions in the market like abnormally low interest rates may make any conclusions questionable.I am not suggesting you do not try, as you will learn a ton in the process.

What brought you to the conclusion that this is the direction you want to take?

And it was a volume play. so in conclusion  if you want to go investor route in my mind you have to be totally selective. and anyone asking for investor friendly agent is code for probably going to waste your time.

I should give it another shot, but given what I mentioned, I doubt I would come to a different conclusion.

Whenever you have a wet period that area will stay soggy because the soil will reach its maximum absorption capacity quickly without the ability to make it to subsurface fissures. 

He's open to it, but warned that it almost guarantees an audit and requires added 'precision' on our part -- which could mean IRS headaches if we ACCIDENTALLY/UNKNOWINGLY did something out of bounds or didn't document something correctly, etc.My conclusion is if you're doing 'simple' SFHs, and/or you're not an LLC, or anything 'special' a CPA who specializes in Taxes and REI work would do the job, an EA who's good with REI would likely be better; but, if you want to do anything unique/creative, or outside the box or also wish to then have the business succession planning or have kids and want to have the business continue should anything happen to you...and all that added planning, maybe a tax lawyer would be best, or a Tax Layer who works closely with the CPA/EA...make sense?