Please excuse any displayed frustration above in making a point, nothing is meant personally."

REI is a rocket science in two levels:1 - Shooting of fireworks and "pocket" rockets in your backyard.2 - NASA 

I love all the feedback and responses, and it really displays the tremendous value of these forums.Thank you all!

.- Make sure that the property has great photographs and that the photos are displayed in the proper order.- Help the seller to establish the correct list price based on the local comps and market conditions.- Advise the seller about any issues related to the property that might effect it's sale.- Negotiate on behalf of the seller in order to get the best deal possible for the seller.- Follow up with the agents who show the property to get feed-back and advise the seller of the feed-back and any appropriate actions that should be taken.- Make sure that all advertising complies with all rules, regulations, and laws effecting the property.- Help the seller to find good service providers (if needed) such as attorneys, termite companies, etc.- Receive all offers on the property, review and evaluate the offers, and advise the seller relating to the offer.- Once the property goes under contract (in some areas the term is "open escrow") follow up with the buyer's agent relating to the buyer's progress toward closing on time.- Prior to closing, review the preliminary HUD-1 settlement statement and make sure there are no errors.

When the auction started, the bid quickly went up to 25K with the 10K increment requirement prominently displayed.

In 2003 I ended all direct mail, display advertising, flyers, signs, etc, and have never looked back.  

If you have agents sending you deals- How do you prefer to see that information displayed?

Well, after closer to 30 hours, I still hadn't heard anything, so I sent one more email, which bluntly displayed my displeasure, demanding someone pay me at least 2 months lost rent, and firing X at the same time. 

But time and  experience has changed my mind.I am a real estate broker, when new investors ask me that questions, I say "yes", You can never have too much knowledge.As an agent working for a company (keep in mind you don't want to act as an agent), you want to learn the culture, how agents think, what they do and talk about.Don't display how smart you are and how much money you want to make investing in real estate, just listen, go along to get alone.Yes you will have an opportunity to to access the MLS, that's a good thing.Do this with MLS:program MLS to follow listings in neighborhoods you are interested insearch for commercial properties, active and expiredkeep track of expired listing in the systemmake offers on expired listingsdon't try to compete with agents in the office for listings or sales -- REMEMBER you are an investor, do not work for pennies!

You display it in your actions.