The bottom line is that you need to figure out what your goals are and align your real estate endeavors accordingly.

This has higher fees, but in theory creates more alignment too.

Hard to guess but in moving on be sure to align yourself with a new agent and verify his/her status with the broker and if the broker has a NAID so you are ready to pull the trigger with no doubts this time.  

An alignment of interest is important between general partners and passive investors.

I would align myself with them, learn the ropes before even venturing out on your own. 

@Ryan Pritchard - Whenever I am looking for a professional service, I like to try and align myself with someone who invests in real estate so they will know the investor perspective.  

Utilities costs (Gas, Electric, Water) for the past 6 monthsThis part of your motivated seller questionnaire gives you the information with which you'll be able to decide whether the property needs a short sale, whether seller financing is an option, and how to structure a deal or an offer that can work for both you and the homeowner.You'll also need this information to properly market the house to your investment property buyers.If you're a new real estate investor, I hope you arm yourself with the information on this page to work out win-win-win solutions for your sellers, your buyers and yourself.Motivated Seller Questionnaire Red FlagsThe power of the motivated seller questionnaire is that it helps guide your interview process, and gives you a framework to make the screening as conversational as possible (In other words, it's a script, without the mechanical sounding words and phrases).It helps you in the 4 following ways: Avoid Outright deception by prospective property sellers Properly screen your inbound leads for seller motivation Helps screen out irritable, irrational, potentially psychotic people you should never, ever deal with Helps you build rapport with target ideal candidates Supplies information to help structure your dealsAvoiding Outright Deception I've had a property owner tell me "..All the house needs is less than $5,000 dollars in repairs, and it's ready..." on a house that clearly needed so much work ($35,000 to $40,000 dollars) that no buyer or agent had ever called him back.Better Motivated seller screening Being a successful real estate wholesaler is a matter of alignment.

(Many times those 2 items do not align either).DC is amongst the lowest risk markets in the country, and consummate with that it has some of the lowest yields in the country.

@Natalie RatkoI would strongly suggest that you read about all the real estate niches on BiggerPockets over the next few months and find one that aligns with your short-term and long-term investment and life goals.

When the value-add process is complete, these assets can look brand new to potential tenants which drives significantly higher rents increasing the value of the asset.Now that you know the difference between the three main business plans, you can align them with your individual investing goals which will get you one step closer from becoming work optional or leaving your W-2.