I’m Monica Bynum here a local agent in Memphis, Tn.

The most common is leaning on your agent for their expert advice.

On finding an agent, you make a completely valid point about the top producing agents.

I remember going to a mortgage closing on a personal home decades ago and the closing agent pushed the 3 inch stack of papers over for signing and said:"This all says...

As for wholesaling, there is no license required bcoz your not Selling or acting as agent in a fiduciary role to anyone but yourself.

If there were ever a time to shop multiple carriers and even multiple agents (if necessary), that time is now. 

Sometimes I wonder if people just feel better about themselves to spend all those nights and weekends on real estate when, realistically speaking, they would have earned just as good a return (or pretty close to it) by investing in a stock market index fund and had way more free time in life  I realize my premise here is antithetical to the whole notion of BiggerPockets so of course bigger pockets hates me writing this, as do all real estate agents and property managers, but it’s the truth and everyone needs to think about it

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

One of my friend happens to be a RE agent, landlord and a property manager himself and he seems to feel that as long as she pays rent on time and does not create nuisance, not to worry much and just keep do a quarterly property inspection.

Posting this duplex that I found here in the heart of Eastern Michigan, I've been frequently trying to run numbers on duplexes and investment property listings as an up and coming agent and investor to try and gain whether a deal is good or bad.