Is this a worthwhile exercise?

I've always thought it would be great one day to build a home from the ground up but is it always going to be more worthwhile to start with something already built and customize it from there? 

At a value of $265K your rent would need to be $2500/month to make this a worthwhile investment income property.

As far as your current agent, if you are inclined to keep them I would ask for a sit down and find out what specific course of action your agent is taking to sell your home, and if there's nothing you consider worthwhile (updated web site, open houses, whatever), then it is probably time to move on. 

Go to Real Estate Investor Association meetings in your area they will help you find sellers that sell for good prices and have worthwhile investments.

It maybe that the numbers make it worthwhile to hold the property and rent it out, but the partner dynamics makes it simpler to sell and move on to the next one. 

Anything half way worth while is under contract with in 1-2 days and over listing price.

Connecting with a local real estate investor familiar with your market would definitely be worthwhile for you.

I think unless you're doing more than 4 deals a year (of which the majority of those on BP are not) then I don't think it's worthwhile getting your license (and the upkeep that comes with it now in the form of continuing education).I think most investors here would be better served by an agent who's actually qualified in helping them find a good property then the time it would take for them to find one.  

I know I'll have a lot of questions for the more experienced among us and hopefully I'll be able to chime in myself with some worthwhile comments sometimes.David