Just because they are paying little to nothing doesn't mean you should ignore how they are getting their source of income.

@Alex Tokmazeyskiy - I think it really depends on your needs as an agent and how exactly you plan to use your license.If you plan on becoming a full-time agent and making it your sole source of income, I'd probably suggest linking up with one of the bigger firms (Coldwell Banker, Baird & Warner, Keller Williams) with properly structured training.If you are looking to just use your license as an investor, then maybe finding a smaller boutique broker with lower commissions is the way to go.

I've been researching how to get decent comps from various online sources (realtor.com, zillow.com, trulia.com, etc) when looking at potential rental properties. 

One source of cities to avoid is Neighborhood Scout's 100 most dangerous cities.

I’m not a wholesaler, but I do source most of my own deals.

They are also very intensive with sourcing and overseeing projects.  

You cannot get a loan for the down payment as all funds for down and closing are traced and sourced for the preceding 3 months. 

One common takeaway from every informational source is that networking is absolutely vital to succeed in this line of work. 

In my case it's my real estate agency, but it could be your day job, flips, wholesaling, or another business you start.While it's doable, I think it's really hard to quit everything and jump into long term investing full time right from the start.By building my active income first, I now have a way to pay my bills outside of my investing portfolio and it allows me to source financing easier, open LOCs, etc.Also, I've worked really hard to get my debt to income down on things other than real estate (i.e. credit cards, car loans, etc).

He has a visa restriction and can't show second source of income beside his day job.