My job requires 50-60 hours per week, and extensive travel. 

There is no extensive marketing campaign or advertising needed:  broker I bought through a couple of years ago has approached me to sell to an interested buyer she has identified and she is proposing 6%.   

The answer is that to NOT invest in Houston due to fear of flooding is probably a BIG mistake as there are some very simple precautions you can take to mitigate the risk extensively.

I use a combination of HELOC/construction loans to roll everything until sales and get extensions to the loans if I'm holding them longer than a year.  

To BP Investors: All is good as both agents are now onboard giving a rebate back to the seller of $2600 each.This still pays both listing and buyer's agent $16,600 commission each and my borrower is able to get a sales contract extension. https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/552/topics/567991-how-to-deal-with-an-uncooperative-listing-agent?

If I'm launching a new account I'll take a gauge at the competition, yes, but not to see how big they are but to see what wording they are using, how are they positioning themselves in the marketplace, are they using relevant ad copy, are they using the keyword in the path URL, are they even using something so basic as ad extensions.

Both have extensive websites with an extensive calendar of events.

Granted, I think one reason we can do this is that our investment group has an extensive construction background --- both as contractors and material supplier.

I think using an LLC is advisable, especially if the rehab will be somewhat extensive.

I then sent the photos to Clayton to give him a heads-up about the extensive work still needed to be done and he again assured that the work could get underway once his crew "have legal ability to get into he house, we'll address the remaining items that need fixing and get it done."