I've been informed that completing the course alone may not be sufficient to pass the exam, so I’m seeking advice on how to prepare effectively once I complete it.Currently, my only other resources include a YouTube video, five practice exams, and a textbook.If you have any additional suggestions—whether online or in-person, paid or free—that could help me effectively prepare for the exam, I would greatly appreciate them.

Yes, as I'm doing more research, I'm finding that I would prefer to invest in markets that I know personally, so as not to rely on external variables completely.

Still can be very beneficial for a new investor but personally I think not as good as a service as they had with their exclusive listings where they had inspections already done, rent rolls available, and you can complete the entire offer/acceptance via their platform rather than being handed off to an agent. 

Just a good person too if you want to bounce any ideas off her. 

In place of a flat fee I can see the transition being something based on referral (did my buyer agent get me a trades person, lender, home inspector, etc.

I'm going to reiterate what's already been mentioned above, but I'm going to actually give you examples of why it's relevant to you to find a U.S. tax professional.1 - You're going to need to file U.S. taxes once you have property down here, there's federal filings, state filings, and sometimes local filings too2 - Tons of tax treaties between the U.S. and Canada that are easy to miss and can cost you a lot of money (important one with rentals - effectively connected income - if the professional you talk to doesn't know what this is, run away)3 - The amount of days you spend in the U.S. needs to be tracked and if you go over a threshold, all of your worldwide income could be taxable by the U.S.4 - Selling real property means up to 15% of your sales proceeds might not be available to you for years (FIRPTA)5 - Lots of nuance at the state and local levels, which both want to take as much money from you as possibleMain takeaway here is that you should find a U.S. based tax person.

. -- lots of factors to consider (including your personal strategy), but here are a few high level metrics to compare the most populous zip codes in HuntsvilleWelcome to drop me a message if you are interested in checking out the full report 

This is one of the best personal finance calculators I have seen. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oC4gdK5gXIPjyEFTgo3g...

Then, each person with money in the deal would get an 8% preferred dividend until they get all of their money back.

If you and another person own a piece of real estate as tenants in common then you both own real estate.