If I were you, I would look to the plan you described above as a supplement to your current lead-generation activities instead of as a primary source for leads.All that said, this is just one man's opinion based on his experience.Thanks,

I heard about it via the Bigger Pockets podcast and would like to get one started for myself, it seems like a really great option for retirement that will supplement real estate income investing.

If you have not covered up the subfloor yet, stop in to your local pet store and look for "Natures Miracle" it is an enzyme to eliminate the urine.  

This would of course require 3 base things:  1) efficient utilities- a natural gas hookup in this case, 2) a well insulated house (sometimes challenging in the multi units in New England), and 3) implementation of a landlord thermostat to control the heat and regulate it to a range 65- 71. 

Underwriting for a living, naturally the idea of investing in real estate appeals to me.

1) there are so many built in transaction management systems online and for the high performing agent hiring a TC is becoming 2nd nature (most offices mandate and most escrows now include them for free in transactions) Dropbox and cloud drives seem to do the job for disclosures and Zip forms seems to create an online heaven for digital document signing and storage.

cost to hook-up utilities such as sewer, water, natural gas5.  

With cyclical nature of market, should focus of investor be on different kind of property at different phases?

A couple months ago, I started considering real estate as a way to supplement my current income and build long term wealth.

If you dislike your current agent and don't intend to work with them any more, then it's a moot point.If it were an off-market deal agents can often understand the nature of that, but when I have had clients go through the listing agent in order to save money on the commission (which almost always is shown to be a non-reality once you see the settlement statement), it has clarified to me that they don't need OR want me to labor for their best interests.