Instead of spending money on education which is available for free, I would attend REI meetings, conferences organized by real estate guys radio, Joe Fairless, crowd converge, New Orleans investment conference etc to network and meet like minded individuals.

You might find yourself getting an even higher premium by giving yourself more lead time and getting those super organized people that plan ahead.

It will depend on how well your records are kept and organized.

My current return on equity across my portfolio is around a pitiful 3.5% since our equity has grown so much and we have paid off almost all of our debt. 

I had to mail mine in MULTIPLE times because each time they received it, they found YET another thing to reject it for (not signed properly, points not categorized under each broker, business entity not organized properly, etc. etc. ) - imagine how backwards this is when they could just go through the entire application and tell you in one shot all the deficiencies you need to rectify and to mail it back again. 

The meetups organized by Brandon have much more value than the CT REIA meetings and are available at a much lower sticker price.

The Fair Housing Commission is a horrible organization... 

For the seller's agent, I think the amount of work they have to do is more defined, but getting things ready for sale and helping organize inspections can take a lot of time.

Make sure to keep your business finances separate from personal ones, and use something like QuickBooks to keep everything organized.

They must be organized, compliant, have strong well-priced vendors, quality marketing and timely tenant relations.