Also, would having/not having a patio or deck influence what I could rent the house for?

With large margins (high ratios), shifts in external factors will have a smaller influence on the profitability of the business.In other words, it's the ratios that are most likely to indicate the long-term success of the business at continuing to generate profits in the face of real world situations.You're a landlord, right? 

We're perpetually on the lookout for the most competent vendors to partner with, as they significantly influence our turnaround times.

I wouldn't count on it being better, regardless of what you try to make up to make your numbers work.Instead of starting a new thread to get influence, try reading one of the stickies in the landlord forum.

Also, I would use a minimum post count or influence so people do not join BP just to raid the file vault.

I recommend the book "How To Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie.  

This person is related to me and our SOI sphere of influence has a few of the same people in it.

Winning the lottery would meet my investment goals, but I won't play because I know the odds and have no way of influencing them in my favor.I have little respect or patience for anyone who glosses over these risks, and I'm glad that you do not provide your clients with a complementary pair of rose colored glasses, that is the sign of a true professional IMO.I still disagree with the degree to which the risks can be assessed and mitigated by a newbie investing out of state, even with due diligence, and this is due to my experience as a non-newbie doing all the due diligence described, going through 7 property managers in 5 years, and still not being able to find a single solitary one that was willing and able to do the job without repeatedly trying to rip me off or leave any profit on the table.

Most brokerages with new agents at high splits take them in hoping to get 2 to 3 deals in a year before they go through their circle of influence and run out of gas and quit.

., what you may be calling our generousity as a nation many call payoffs for political influence, if you look deeper into what we pay the Afgans for example is not charity, it's payoffs for us to do things, conduct business, have access to our holdings and now for our troops.Why is it that east Africa has gotten so little aid from the US, if we placed the contributions of charity on needs, they would be alot better off, but as they said in the movie, no one cares about Africa.