All appraisers chosen by the bank.

I'd be more worried about the future performance of Mutual Funds than I would be about signing a personal guarantee to pay back the mortgage on my own well chosen and value-priced properties.Eggs in different baskets is a fine strategy, but shouldn't property investing factor higher than a maximum of just 20% of your available cash?

Now, my buyers agent says I have to have my lender chosen by Friday.

It's impossible to answer meaningfully as there's no criteria state to make the evaluation.Consider:  customer serviceclear and easy to understand documentationlargest inventory selectively chosen inventoryable to present the properties that match your budget and preferencesthat list is the tip of the iceberg as it could go on for pages.I get this all the time with computers and software - - we all fall into this  trap from time to time.

Id rather bend my investment criteria to my chosen local, than to change my chosen local to fit an investment criteria.  

@Andrew Thorell , you could not have chosen a better online resource to both educate yourself and network with others.

All the materials are chosen by interior decorators so the final result is very elegant looking even if one is just doing basic remodel.

How have some of you guys chosen your areas to invest in?  

Obviously, if they've chosen to lie, cheat, and steal from me, our values differ anyway.

Full disclosure: I have four kids, two with Master's degrees in their chosen fields, one with a degree in Economics and another that's pre law, so I've had very similar conversations.