Only deal with reputable, experienced wholesalers.

Some lenders may verify, with no income verification, but with a higher interest rate, but this is something I need to do more research on and very much welcome any suggestions on any reputable companies I could work with.On that note, I am roughly familiar with a federally insured Title 1 loan that would even be applicable to properties one does not own!

I'm going to be a bit of a contrarian to the above posters, but let me first qualify my post by stating that your market will determine what you should do.We frequently install en-suite laundry in our units - in fact, we have removed common coin-op laundry in most buildings of 6-units or less in favour of en-suite laundry - for the following reasons:electricity and, in most cases, hot water costs are transferred to the tenant;where water is sub-metered, water costs are transferred to the tenant;high-efficency residential laundry machines are about half the capital costs of commercial coin-operated machines;we can command $30 - $50/month in additional rent with en-suite laundry;by installing our own machines, we know they are installed property, with catch/drain pans and {going forward} leak detect shutoffs; andwith en-suite laundry vandalism of laundry machines has been non-existant ... and if a machine is damaged, we know who is responsible.We have a good rapport with a couple of local appliance suppliers and get called whenever they have "dinged and scratched" units to unload ... a small, cosmetic dent in the side of a washer - which will never be seen when it is installed in a laundry closet - can be worth a 40 - 50% discount.  

But a reputable GC would be greatly appreciated for a newer investor like myself.

I know in our area here.. most realtors simply are not going to work with contracts that don't have POF's  they have trained their sellers that its a waste of time to work with any contract that does not have POF>and not just mail order internet POFs must be from local reputable lender that they can verify..

You should run one yourself from a reputable company.  

I was told that GC's typically don't like to come out and give bids on properties that are not even under contract.I'd hate to have a potentially reputable GC come out to walk the property with me and then I don't get the deal and they feel that I wasted their time and that I was just a tire kicker. 

You could partner with reputable investors in your area, or use some of the crowd sourcing investment websites that are out there.

If not, any recommendations on ways to find a reputable and good agent to work with to help a novice RE investor get their first property?

Tina and Joseph go back to the same bank and get a home equity loan for $360,000 to buy a turnkey rental property in Jacksonville run by an extremely reputable management company that provides a steady $200 in cashflow a month, great passive investment with excellent appreciation potential, just like the BP community told her.For the next five years they continue to pay off the original mortgage and the home equity loan, and by 2013 they owe $70,000 on the original mortgage and $305,000 on the home equity loan.