Like making friends with local Deli owners to keep an ear out for you type hard.

Is the idea to seem less intimidating to the seller - more of a friend than a business?

After refi, principal paydown is our friend and helps mitigate any potential future decrease in value.  

Anyone knows a good investor friendly agent or a broker that serves this area?

@Darius Moezinia Refinance right after the completion of a 1031 is perfectly acceptable and is a frequently used strategy when cash is desired by the exchangor who does not want to create a taxable boot situation by taking cash or be seen as inappropriately accessing profit by a refinance immediately before a sale that begins a 1031.

@Christos PhilippouJust write a friendly letter.     

As we all know, REI is an art which is different in every location.Let's pick a similar property from Zillow in Las Cruces and provide a basic analysis hoping that our friends from Las Cruces help us with our analysis:1009 Elm St.

A friend of mine is thriving in this market.

The book "How to win friends and influence people" had a huge impact on me and frankly I think it gives me an advantage over others who don't practice some of the methods Dale Carnegie presents.

I feel that my money would go further and be safer splitting a property with him (helping him as well) than in my inflated market.So i guess in general with this post, I'm hoping to hear from anyone who has experience in the area, specific areas to invest in, connections with investor friendly RE agents/contractors/property managers, anything will help.