Hi Kevin,  the R.E. license is going to be critical for you to accurately value properties (i.e. 

The sense of urgency is critical as each day land diminishes as well as opportunity.

Account Closed Knowing your market is critical to whether you are an investor or a speculator.Here is the short list of what you need to know:*  Rents*  Sales comps*  Taxes*  DOM*  Profit potential  (formula)*  Seller's or Buyer's market*  Market saturation*  Interest and availability of tenants and/or buyers*  Cost of homes for sale (not the same as sales comps)*  Quality of neighborhood (stats, but eyeball test works even better when you inspect a property)Joe VilleneuveREcapSystemA2REIC

Timing plays a critical role and those promoting "pre funding" often fail to point to the cost associated with it.  

It's critical to know what you are dealing with now as opposed to after you tie the knot!)

You do need a market value to assess the level of collateral, so you need to know RE, valuation is critical,  but what you need to know can be learned in, lets say the time required in a college semester, or, if the cash reserves allow and the discount is deep enough, you can hire out the RE aspects, appraisers, BPO, attorney, contractor, inspectors, title folks and a good Realtor can probably cover the bases for you.

However, I instructed my team not to come to me unless it was "mission critical".

As many have said before, having a good/trustworthy team in place is critical, whether you are in or out of state!

Or download my "2013 Housing Market Forecast" (which will be updated soon) from our website for a few more ideas and food for thought.Having invested out-of-state since ten years ago, I can tell you that great property management is critical to your long-term success.

Proving intent is critical and your assessment is spot on.