In all honesty, the worst approach a salesman can have is to vomit all of his guidelines  all over the new customer right there in the lobby or in their advertising. 

I'll be honest, I am new to all of this but I'm very eager and I'm a quick leaner.

To be honest I am sort of amazed that you are questioning the validity of this "transaction."

I'd rather keep the income math all the same, let the expenses be the variable component.It may be semantics, but lessening the rent to me could also cheapen the value of the rental in the eyes of your tenant.

@Michael EalyLoved the honesty in this post - On to Part 2!

I am looking at properties everywhere, my longer term goals are California, East Coast, and abroad.....to be honest I was thinking of the tax benefits of having properties in those places because they are places I like to visit....maybe naive on my part...right now I want to find a one or a few trusted advisors/providers to purchase cash flowing properties to grow our passive income and portfolio. 

I'm assuming that's not what you meant and if you're interpreting "steal" and "discount" as being two different things, then now we are just playing semantics.

When they couldn't, my realtor called and said owner was willing to sell but wanted to net $220 and so the price changed to $235.In all honesty, the house was somewhat undervalued when originally listed ($225-230 was very fair). 

What positions you for success is your strategy, your market acumen, your TRACK RECORD, honesty, integrity, and results.

Most important aspect of this relationship is transparency and honesty.