To clarify, I have been studying real estate for several years, but have been otherwise engaged in operating  other businesses that my wife and I both own, both as CFO and CEO roles.

Studies show good staging does have an impact on your sale.

Im new to the investing world and am still in the early stages, I've been studying and researching for the past five years.

As a result I must Study the market and know what i’m worth. 

I have studied both and Section 8 is a lot easier.Yes, Section 8 is intended to help with the issue of available housing for low income people so absolutely its not designed to compete with your Class A rentals.

I've been studying for a while and see investing as a cycle, times of high activity (chasing the deal) and times of latency (allowing the deal to mature).

Therefore, I have been trying to study up on techniques used to make good offers and over come objections. 

I’m most impressed with the fact that you studied real estate and real estate markets for a year before investing; that you scanned the possibilities, chose what you considered the best opportunity, and went all in.  

When you have a duplex and tenants on both sides stay for ten years, it almost guarantees that something isn't right.I would study your market and determine the value of your rental, because I bet you are losing money every month.

In fact, a couple of recent studies have shown that working with a broker typically saves about $10,000 on a residential mortgage.