Ultimately, I'm trying to buildup a pile of cash within a certain time frame to do larger commercial investments with higher potential gains (this part I'm sure about - don't try to convince me to stay forever in residential haha).Assuming the fundamentals are correct, the next question is that of taxes.

First, stay of the web when looking for money.

Armin made a good point about capital gains exclusion due to the primary residence and living in the property 2 out of the last 5 years.I also want to say, I fundamentally disagree with the perspective of @Darius Kellar. 

What can you qualify for.But first deal make sure you go based on fundamentals, you can handle the mortgage, you have an exit strategy if it does not go the way you think. ie: rent out, flip, live in the property

On show 325 at 1:27:00 he mentions a web service (padlock.com) where you can enter an address and buy the owner information like phone number, loans on the property, ARV, etc....   

Check out my web site https://oakridgehomesco.com/ and you can download information about Pueblo West from the site. 

Whatever you do in a tight contracting market you wanna protect yourself by relying on solid fundamentals.

No one was selling over the Web as the Web was not invented until about 8 years after I started.

Phoenix is on a huge upswing.Buy fundamentals and what makes sense for cash flow.

I’ve been searching the web and RE sites, and have found a few places out of state where the numbers look really good for cash flow and CoC return, and I’m ready to start viewing the properties and making the next steps.My question to the community is this; is it better to have my own realtor with me to go through discussions and negotiations, or would it be okay to use the sellers realtor (assuming that is who is listed as the realtor on each site)?