He says he'll call me and bid as I tell him to.4) Are there other elements to this that I am completely oblivious to? 

I have been to a few and had some good interactions.

As you’ve done more deals, and carefully documented them and the results, your track record will speak for itself and will be a key element of establishing trust amongst investors that don’t already know you. 

If there are investors who are willing to buy with less interaction the agents will simply sell to them.

Our work included all planning, political, and community interaction and management of the political process, hiring and management of the design team, hiring and management of the brokerage companies to sell the sites, and negotiation and successful sale of the projects.

Interactive map AND confirmed with the Zoning Board AND Building Department personally, that I am not in a buffer zone that would disqualify my home from becoming a Boarding House.

@Dan Trinh, @Orr Golob, check out this interactive map that Sourabh created!

I like this choice because you can see who people recommended and who they decided to go with based on their interactions among the many CPA's(depending of if they shopped around).

In Spain, I'm out of my element.

When deciding what elements to spend money on for a flip, the best advice I received was:"If you do this/don't do this, will it stop the house from selling?"