Additionally, I want to be able to commit enough time to being  a real estate agent to be able to be an effective agent for my clients.

You can be very lean and effective.  

Hey Veterans! If the stock market crashes this year or any year, how does that affect the housing market and price of real estate in general? Or will there be any affect at all? Is it possible we can see sales and che...

My experience is desperate people do desperate things and can have a negative effect on you.

If you can't effectively manage a property from a distance, then it isn't the right time to buy. 

There is no sense arguing that helping the tenant out or being compassionate will have anything other than a negative effect on the bottom line.That said, some folks get more out of their business then just the bottom line.

There were smokers in both units when I purchased the property and I well remember the time and effort it took to clean and repair the smoke damage.

One bad tenant can easily approach 20K in damages and you need to insure your expense calculations are based on the life of the property not just the next 12 months.

I'm a newbie with 0 deals and I know bandit signs are effective.

Now I read this one: https://www.vox.com/2017/6/1/15724252/lebron-james... that basically says him being in Cleveland helps jobs within a couple miles of the stadium, and further out had no effect at all.2.