There are good value deals in your market if you search hard and long enough, it sounds like your lead source could be revamped in my opinion.

In my opinion, this is when having a realtor comes in handy.

It's just as possible (and just as likely, in my opinion), that rates are the same or higher a year from now.

@Daniel DeBruin, this is really all market dependent and how much you want to spend versus how much it will impact both the rent you can achieve as well as the quality of tenants it attracts.When it comes to design, it is all a bit personal opinion, but I will say: contiguous flooring always trumps mismatched, hodge podge flooring.  

People may have opinions, but use what works for you.Finding a Mentor: LinkedIn or Facebook groups are great for finding mentors.

You are too tied to those two decisions, neither which are good in my opinion.

I'm in a space to do some house hacking, and am under the general (unresearched, unless you count years of Zillow watching) opinion that my local rental market is healthy.

Hey Biggerpockets fam, first time homebuyer here I would like some opinions on if buying a house at almost your max buying power is to risky. 

Nice and what is your opinion of equity sharing companies like HomeTap?

We syndicate to 50 different rental websites, some key websites that are missing in my opinion are: Realtor.com - Another solid option for reaching renters.Trulia - Similar to Zillow, with good visibility.HotPads - Focused on rentals and popular among renters.I recommend looking into the MLS syndication if you aren't using a third party that automatically syndicates the listings.