I also don't believe that it is reasonable to ask for a full year's rent up front as the graduate students often are older and have been working professionally for awhile and don't have a wealthy family back home financing their education abroad like an undergraduate may have - but tell me if you think otherwise. 

Should I start looking for an accountant, wait till I close or wait till tax season?

I feel like if I was in my 20s I'd have a lot more time and a lot more energy and would be willing to take more risks, but now that I'm older, I'm not sure what the best path is going forward.

So are you looking for financing that doesn't require the 6 month seasoning? 

@Michael Miraglia you can definitely purchase properties in cash and the refinance them after a "seasoning" period.

if you have 6 month seasoning you can either accrue the interest or pay monthly payments.. its all up to what you folks agree to between the parties..

Being a new investor, you can imagine that it may be more difficult to do this as you don't have as much experience as a seasoned investor.

We have never owned new, is this advisable in the round rock market or should we look at a seasoned home ?

I love helping people find their value and their potential.Honestly, my business pays the bills and it is my full-time job but I want to get into Real Estate Investing to build some passive income and not have to worry so much about slow seasons, or working until I'm 60.My business is doing pretty well for doing primarily painting.

The DC condo market is definitely slowing... particularly for older buildings or locations like Brentwood  which have less pizzazz!