Analyze your strengths/weaknesses and also the type of business you are planning on building.

Anyone who had a agent referral that deals with this type of old property can get me a better quote.   

Main questions should ask about the seller's:- Reasons/Motivations for wanting to sell- Desired timeline to close- Plan's after selling (relocation, reinvesting proceeds, 1031 exchange, etc)- Back-up plan in case they are unable to sell within the desired timeline- Reasons for not already selling to/with a investor or RealtorAdditional questions will depend on the type of seller lead i.e. pre-foreclosure, probate, fsbo, absentee owner, etc.Here is an example of a youtube search you can use to begin finding call recordings.There are 1,000s and you'll find that the best/most effective ones don't even sound like sales calls.

I can share details of properties and if you have airdna, that something we can both look at because i dont have it (and go over what the anayics look at for certain types of propeties in this area). 

Happy to discuss more if you have any questions on these types of loans!

Slowly build out a repeatable process...if you continue to change things (as in different types of properties, different levels of renovation, different finish material, different neighborhoods, etc.) you create more variables and make it harder to solve to the problem.I am a math guy and less unknowns/variables you have the easier the problem will be to solve. 

As for Marketing, I've never seen an agent propose a marketing plan with market segmentation, value proposition, buyer profiling, market analysis, or any of the MBA type stuff. 

Should I offer to pay them for their consultation, or are these types of questions common as part of the PM vetting process and is a "courtesy service"?

With 3 properties already, you're definitely not "new" anymore ;-) Doing a refi is very possible (depending on how much equity you've accumulated) to do those types of things...the issue can be the tax ramification that you face if/when you do it.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?