Just trying to start my career with a solid foundation, and develop a long (and hopefully successful relationship).Any suggestions?

This is also where relationships help if you have a lender that you have been working with and he understands your overall financial position, he can be a bit more flexible; as @Jeff Dulla mentioned, I would wait until you are closer to actually making offers to get a pre-authorization.  

I called the two banks I have relationships with and they both told me that they take debt to income into consideration when doing the refinance.

I don't want to talk too much about his story because I'll get emotional and stupid both about him and the painful history of my area, but again, he has been a critical part of our operation.Do you also have or have you lost important relationships with key specialists who are aging out of the work force?

My team and I are looking to get our second property under contract and it's a mixed use building- Store front w/ residential apartment up top, and two single family homes attached- very strange...Here's what I know before visiting the property:- It's downtown in a very mall city with a historic board- Separate meters for electric- One bill for sewer and well (I'm assuming it's county sewer but will investigate further to ensure not a septic)- I'm going to ask for the leases and ask the renters what they're paying for rent.As a mixed use building I'm assuming I'd need to dig into the store fronts financials to ensure they're capable to afford the property.

They should be able to save you much more than 15% on repair costs if they know what they are doing, have the proper vendor relationships  and negotiate pricing effectively. 

Their podcast is top of the shelf.Biggerpockets and Jake and Gino are the two internet resources that have helped me grow the most hands down.In direct response to your question: Historically have prices been appreciating over time and by how much?

@Taylor Gillette  If you have a good relationship with your lender I would propose all these questions to them directly... get it right from the source. 

Compensation should be based upon those rather than relationships. 

This particular building was brought to my attention from my realtor who has a relationship with an investor open to selling some of his properties.