If you are listing a property as their agent, a seller will tell you more about their situation than they might if they were speaking directly to a potential buyer, therefore, it should be known before a seller ever utters anything about their situation that you are a potential buyer, and not an agent looking to list their property for sale. 

Find the Ip Man of Sales Skills.... then you will be Bruce Lee.Utter Foolishness...In my mind.. it is utter foolishness to expect that Bruce Lee would have been who he was unless he had Ip Man teaching him by his side.  

In regards to the quadplex in Austin, my mission was an utter success.

If your investment goals are utterly dependent on having adequate cash flow from your properties, any downturns will cripple you.

I uttered "No guts, no glory" under my breath as I thought to myself..

Rental glut sends chill through the hottest U.S. housing markets - Bloomberg https://apple.news/AT3CLTr2iRnGS5Df35ywivA

Keep tons of cash reserves and chill out, and let your tenants pay down that debt.

I overpaid for this shoddily-constructed hovel with its HOA fees and idiotic rules, utterly incompetent and corrupt management, and neighbors I still would not be able to sit down and eat with if I hadn't had a meal in three days.

What you think is that you buy the brokerage chill and collect a check. 

Then you have to make sure they know you enforce everything in that lease-- and if you're a "chill" friend, that's easier said than done.