So, basically, don't put the onus on others to be completely trustworthy when their whole world has started to crash and burn - do your own research on the status of the property and here's hoping that you'll be able to help your contact out..  

@Shital Thakkar,Rental markets in a lot of places are "super hot" due to  the post-crash housing shortage.

-wholesaling, rehabbing, buying and selling real estate, I originally started by back in 2003 before the market crashed, which was really a good time, decided to exit the market in 2012 and went hiatus for 4 years and pretty much missed  the industry and a had a lot of good times and bad, The things I didn't know then I know now and the things I dont know Im open to learn.

Forget NYC for now, the next market crash you will be able to find deals in NYC, start in NJ the prices are great for beginners for flipping , wholesale, renting etc.

At the age of 24 I personally own over 1.2 mil in single family homes in Saint Louis, MO then lost over 400k in real estate do to the crash in 2008.

The next huge crash between 2022 and 2028 will be much worse than the 2008 crash. 

I suspect he will lose between rent .. and having to rehab it for real again 5 to 10k right out of the shoot. and to make the statement glad I had reserves. .well anyone buying a rental without substantial reserves is just a crash and burn waiting to happen especially in low end areas like this.There is a reason most TK companies of high repute refuse to work in these areas anymore.. 

Before the crash of 2008 there were over 1 million licensed agents who averaged 2 sales/year.

I see a lot of talk about  the new crash coming.  

As for exam studying, RE trainers out of Anaheim has a 2-day exam crash course scheduled for the weekend of Oct 8-9 in Santa Clara.