So far as actual days of the week, Mondays can be busy with regular operational items, weekly reports, weekend follow-up, etc but generally speaking Friday is much busier than Monday because teams are getting ready for weekend move-ins and more people come to see apartments Friday/Saturday than any other day of the week. 

I can also infer a few other items in later points, such as vacation destination, no sales tax, and a commuter state. b.

I can't help you on the agent part of things, but I do think making a list of all the steps you need to do to buy a property (find and agent, get prequalified for a loan, make x number of offers) and then put that list above anything else (regarding real estate) and try to start crossing one item off after another could help. 

A good rule of thumb is to plan on spending approx $10k on all the standard items for your unit like your washer & dryer, linens, small appliances, dishware & cookware etc., plus $2-3k per bedroom.

Let's say the tenant has a horse and someone stops by the property to buy an item they saw on Craigslist.

My company has a higher listed % fee than some others (8-10%) but that includes more services, other have lower fees but have other items that are additional costs.

Basement also has some dusty looking floors and drywall not done.I don't think someone is not making an offer because of these minor items.

My husband and I are in the same boat with a VA loan, and being told that since we itemized and deducted so many repairs, etc last year from our new rental that we can not count any of the 3k in rent towards our income, and so the 2850 mortgage payment doesn’t offset and therefore ruins our chances of getting a mortgage :( 

Make a list of expense line items and validate. 

You'll need to find value add opportunities in order to capture the equity to pay back the OPM.