I've learned over the years of being a landlord that I have to pick my battles.

Can I pick your brain about the different neighborhoods of Poughkeepsie? 

Pick the worst house in a great neighborhood and upgrade it.  

She had a client who picked up a leasehold interest in a shopping complex on land owned by the city.

Quote from @Stuart Bartle: My advice is to pick one location.

Unless you need them installed for mortgage appraisal, recommend:1) A price reduction or 2) Small price reduction for installation labor and have someone pick up & store the mechanicals the seller provides.Otherwise, they will just get stolen again!

While this isn't a hard and fast rule, more often then not, these are the guys that can't manage their schedules well, and will be gung-ho on your job for a couple weeks, then be flaking out as they picked up too much work and are trying to keep too many homeowners happy.And lastly, the more detail you have the better the bid will be with few change orders.  

We were so bummed about starting over with a new lawyer after the one we worked with for months told us they decided to close down, but luckily the new lawyer we picked is fast and aggressive.

Multifamily investors usually look to balance risk and return - usually picking either B or C neighborhoods to buy rentals in.

Get yourself to a point where you can evaluate a few different groups, and be able to pick the one that suits you best for your first investment.