I met both side tenants and was more comfortable with the section 8 arrangement.

Do these issues gathered from the grapevine merely affect the price during the negotiation stage?

It's called a reverse 1031 and I am in the very early stages.  

They're not collecting a fee on a vacant unit or do you have a clause like this:Service Fees: Each time Broker arranges for the Property to be repaired, maintained, redecorated, oraltered as permitted by this agreement, Owner will pay Broker a service fee equal to: (Check one boxonly.)(1) % of the total cost of each repair, maintenance, alteration, or redecoration.(2)The service fees under this Paragraph 12E are earned at the time the repair, maintenance, redecoration, or alteration is made and are payable upon Owner's receipt of Broker's invoiceIf they are making money off the repair or each time they are meeting someone there to give estimates, then yes I would expect them to work harder and faster.  

He started just part time while on a demanding W-2 employmentc that he really did not like and worked there about two years during his first stage.  

Being broke sometimes can be a blessing, you are very flexible in this stage of life, no job, no BIG bills, no responsibility other than yourself, use it to your advantage.Relocate if you have to to get into somebody internship program... 

I am in the beginning stages (just setting up website and getting business cards) and I was thinking that leveraging the older marketing of the "We buy ugly houses" might be a good idea.  

That is why it is a standard feature of many Renter's Insurance policies to pay for alternate living arrangements should these be needed.

I'm hopeful that your current arrangement will be more fruitful but I have had mixed luck with family and friends in similar contexts. 

I'm an in the beginning stages of real estate investment, as in I'm getting my finances in order and saving for my first investment.