Rental arbitrage isn’t common in my area ( high point North Carolina) but I was planning on starting in another state.

Are the units vintage quality with in-place rents $500/mo below current market?  

Don't invest in a market if you can't find a quality PM!

Much of the country is at high risk between fires, hurricanes, tornados, tidal waves, earth quakes, rising tides, etc.  

The first agent is absolutely certain the house will sell in the high 400’s.  

All the best, Steven  If you're going to do a partnership or even a joint venture agreement I would highly suggest using a competent lawyer to draft your business agreement.

Contractors, unless you have a working relationship with them, normally do not want you bouncing ideas off them.Understand what their hourly rate is, have a discussion with them that you are okay with paying them an hourly rate if they walk the property with you and provide you a scope of work along with an explanation of what you can/can't get away with in regards to improvements.ask them if you go with them, if they can credit you the amount that you paid.Once you develop a working relationship with a few contractors, you can bounce ideas off them and expect quality responses.I do not invest in New York.Best of luck. 

On the flip side, if you've got a bunch of Section 8 tenants living in a building that's in a neighborhood where a lot of the tenant base has good jobs, high credit scores, and are generally reliable people, you've got the most risky tenants in that tenant base and that ain't what ya want.

The deduction is optimized as values increase and can potentially offset the entire net investment (including down payment) for high wage earners.

Real estate agents are not highly regulated in Costa Rica as opposed to North America.