If the agent is looking at you and shaking their head saying "It's a beautiful house, I don't know why it's not selling", you need a new agent.

Kickstarting the gentrification by opening the charming local coffee shop is a lot harder, but that coffee shop or something like it is essential.Last Friday I received 10 unsolicited contracts in the mail from an apparently desperate investor trying to "shake the trees and see what falls out".  

Once you have a chance to give it a good crawl through, let me know things such as:1) Foundation (rubble, brick, block, poured, encased rubble, etc)2) Framing - ballooned framed, western platform or something else3) Wall section:Cladding - brink veneer, clapboard, shakes, masonite, vinyl, multiple layers, etc;Outer sheeting - plank (square milled or live edged); plywood; OSB; hardboard;Insulation - None, R5 paper-backed rock wool; R5 - R8 fibreglass; blown; UFFI; etcWindstop - is there a layer of lath-and-plaster in the wall cavities;Vapour barrier - is there one, is it paper or plastic.  

Will be very curious to see how it shakes out!

If you do the bird-dogging (referral of properties) is an agreement standard between parties or is it a "hand-shake" relationship?

I just can't shake the feeling that we're at an inflection point and I am seriously confused where we're headed. 

Make sure at some point that night we shake hands and say hi.

@Kurt SchuepferOne thing about codes:There are more codes than you can shake a stick at.

Best regards,[YOUR BUSINESS PIC HERE]Ryan Leake,San FranciscoCell/text: (123) 456-7890////////(If he says yes--place the call as soon as you receive the email--immediately)(If he says no--send a thank you anyway response).If you have no money to invest right now say so in the email.Recommendation--Don't be a chore boy--be a fellow businessman (have some self pride) (Ride on the yacht--don't polish the fenders).Recommendation--Talk on the phone, see how that goes, if it's good, then offer lunch or whatever (the same as a date with a girl--talk first then ask).Recommendation--Shake a hand make a friend vs being a student type.

He's only into residential multis for now, but he may be trainable.New agents, get out there and shake the bushes and have a specialty or focus would be my little $.02