I was in the military ( making me a veteran now) and during my time in I shared all kinds of living conditions with strangers and friends.

This planning phase at the beginning does not seem to be emphasized enough.As I read other people's investment stories and talk with other real estate investors, I have noticed that some seem to have unrealistic expectations about real estate investing.

- do I NEED real estate agent here in this phase then? 

The seller had a military contractor job with security clearance.

Good post with a few good ideas, thanks.A note about San Antonio, is that it historically has a big turnover in homes due to the military bases in the area.

We're selecting a SW right now for our first self managed unit (the rest are with a great PM company) and we are in the phase of researching all of them.Thanks! 

Still, we are looking for more granular data that breaks down by unit configuration closer match to the minimums set for each military, rank) plus estimates for the costs of utilities. 

The largest site is about 1/2 way through building a second phase the size of the first phase.All within 10 miles of the power plant.In Commercial or industrial development, you would need both the track record of success and also the financing.  

We are now starting to renovate the property and I am sure we will have some excellent experiences/learnings with this phase as well!

They sold and the next owner started phasing out Section 8.