She said her husband and her as well as our neighbor have seen strangers coming in and out of the downstairs tenant's unit with jars of marijuana.

Never rely on anonymous strangers you met on the web to find your money.

You are trusting strangers with your hard earned money, your dreams, your future.    

You aren’t asking the property manager to tell all their tennants their leases are going to be cancelled as soon as you find a buyer and in the meantime you want them to allow strangers to walk through their houses.

I'm know stranger to producing functions. 

For example, would it be better to market to friends or venture into marketing to "strangers"? 

Inventory is very tight right now across the board, whether it be sellers/tenants not wanting to let strangers into their homes, or sellers seeing dollar signs and buyers wanting steals.The only product I am seeing in my area, not moving well, are paper listing new construction. 

Once you know what to do and are confident (without having to ask strangers on a forum for their thoughts) then you will be ready to buy your first property. 

You should never pay these.Why are you willing to do business with strangers you met on online, Will?

It will be worth every penny, opposed to random advice from strangers in an online forum, which could cost you thousands.