Ft)For ARV, it is best to have an experienced real estate agent find comps for you to determine a safe number to work off of. 

At that time, my friend encouraged me to get into real estate with the idea of creating passive income and wealth in future (via appreciation).

We plan to stay in this house for more than 5 years unless another great opportunity arises, but maybe it is best to allocate a bigger portion of savings to our real estate investment savings account than our home improvement savings account for the first few years.

@Victor YangWhy are you not reaching out to a NC real estate attorney to draw up a document that spells out the agreement that you are looking to do with the tenant?

We also have connections with real estate agents, wholeslaers and title companies.

Also, which choice is better for you highly depends on what your real estate goals are and the experience level & skillset of the specific agent.Traditional agent and Redfin Agent could essentially be the same thing in many cases.

Knowing the average bP buy and hold investor this type of information would be for advanced investors that deal in the back end of real estate not the front end like most who just want to buy a house for under market rehab refi rent or flip. 

Starting real estate investing early is a smart move, especially while leveraging your military benefits.

I am new to real estate investing and BP, and I am excited to learn more about this space!

For several reasons (property taxes, politics), I would prefer to begin real estate investing somewhere other than locally.