In my contracts I always ask for more earnest money than I put in myself, that way, it covers some of your carrying costs and due diligence related costs.

What do I put in my offer?

Quick math is that if you pay the guru's fee, then put in the work for a few months, you have about 520 hours into the process with $7,500 return, minus overhead, which turns out to be making minimum wage and you have enough left over to take your guru to coffee, but not much more.

This is a PM I put in place on my very first rental, so I've learned a lot of 'what not to do's' since.  

Avoid putting in cheap items and put in more durable - tile vs carpet, mini blinds vs faux wood, lights instead of ceiling fans.

I'd be willing to put in some sweat equity to compensate for your time and training.

It might be possible for me to talk with the owner 1 on 1 and put in an offer before the auction.My issue is that I don't have much capital myself to make a decent offer on a house myself.

The contractor who put in the floors is not following up on phone calls or promises to review the work he did and see if something was done wrong.

Does your cleaning service stay at your units  long enough to wash/dry the comforters before making the beds or do you have a second set that can be put in the beds right away.  

Go to meetups, attend auctions, host your own meetups, hit up EVERYONE in your sphere of influence and add value to/communicate with your database on a regular basis so that you remain top of mind.Just put in the work and try to be a better agent every day.