Welcome to BP where the people are helpful and the knowledge is vast.

There is a cost of entry to obtain your license.....school, exam, licensing, hanging with a broker, MLS fees, lockbox key fees, Realtor association fees, etc.However, the benefits are vast for investors as you get real time access to mls, and access to properties at your convenience with your lockbox key.  

She is open to a "blended situation" whereby as we start to travel, we hand over more and more "ground time" at a vastly reduced rate.

@Shane Jeanfreau if you will be seating on built up equity that you created by repositioning the asset you MAY be able to refinance the property after 6 or 12 months to 70%-75% (or more depending on your lender and the property) of Appraised value.so if you added sufficient value you may be in a position to have no money in the deal.

I don't know what they are paying for rent but $290,000 might be a bit steep for them, I have seen this many times where tenants vastly overestimate what they can afford and think they can buy the house where they are renting. 

Also if you have rental units you want to make sure that you have sufficient reserves should the need arise for a major repair. 

I still withhold sufficient reserves for the reasons I indicated.

If I were you, I would hold out for a good deal that provides sufficient funds to set aside AND some cash flow.

The rest is having sufficient reserves so you can weather a storm.How much reserves you need depends on how difficult it may be to lease the building or convert it into something else.

I also look at many of the things already mentioned, as well as property taxes and properties in vast employment hubs with an endless amount of potential tenants (employees needing a house to live in).I'm currently pending on a property in East Point, GA (Atlanta) near the airport.