At the end of the day, I probably won’t go with this tenet (they also asking about bringing chickens, which I also posted about); but as I’m new to the game myself, wanted to make sure I was aware of common practices so I don’t come off as ignorant when asked for a commission.

I know, it's another chicken or the egg issue.If you can deal as a private investor with your own money then go for it.

I have often wondered why people invest out of town (especially new investors) without making the relatively small investment of visiting the actual property they are considering.Besides, if you make the trip, you can make a detour to Niecie's for Chicken and Waffles or  LC's for some world-famous barbecue.

It was pretty good, steak by the way, not chicken!

Gus's Fried Chicken is getting ready to relocate their Bartlett store to Cordova and I am confident they will do $3,000,000 in sales.  

It’s frustrating, trying to build a large bankroll to use towards my first deal, while also trying to learn how to spot the first deal...Not complaining, I’m happy to work as hard as i can.I guess it’s a chicken or the egg first kind of question!

This beats the therapy chicken!

Tear the window security bars out if they don't have a fire release, throw some cheap co/smoke detectors up, double strap the water heater and no duct tape isn't going to cut it (CA earthquake thing), cut the 3 foot weeds back away from touching the exterior wall, get rid of that goddamn chicken seriously a "pet" chicken is not part of a vacant duplex wtf (true story), you know... that sort of thing.

That said, my wife and I live in Pittsburgh with a couple of cats, 5 chickens, and a garden we love to work in. 

Here is a good article on this from Dike Drummond:Gross Rent Multiplier: The Rubber Chicken of Commercial Property Analysis