I'm also going to tour my local market more thoroughly, I was thinking of going to a few open houses to see what everyone is offering and to figure out what the rents are going for and what the security deposits are going for. 

What I will also say is that being out of state (I buy out of state as well) you wouldn't believe how many properties I've flown out and toured that either a.) looked much worse in the photos or b.) the area just wasn't what I thought it was. 

Just moved into Virginia after my 5 year tour with the air force overseas and found a property with 2 houses on it both built in 1966 & both being duplexs for 185,000 total.

You'll get out of the office once you're seasoned a bit to tour investment properties with clients. 

Owners who do not pay leasing commission quickly get a reputation in the market and tenant rep brokers will exclude your property from tour lists if they know they are not going to get paid.Grant

As for me I have been working as a tour guide and tour bus driver in Alaska for the past 11 years.

Most European countries have double tax treaty with the US (usually 15% taxed on both end for a total of 30%).The upside you can pay out 6-7% and pocket the difference the downside you have to stick to a loan Fixed returns over a fix period of time.Return are lower in Europe (so are loans) so we tried to simply borrow at 6-7% and do hard money loans for 10-12% great idea, little work.

This same neighbor actually offended a potential renter by walking over and basically interrupted the tour of the property.

Have your agent tour the property with the seller, give you comps based on condition, and present YOUR offer to the seller if the numbers are close.

My goal in earning my license is to do things like obtain access to the MLS, lock box access so I can tour properties on my own, etc.I'd also like to be able to generate leads for properties, probably through an online advertising strategy.