Here's the catch, they told me they would only agree to the deal if I allowed them to live in the house for the next 5 years.

I agree.

- only use her for the sale on the flip sale - business is business Agreed with @Caleb Brown here.While you don't technically need to compensate your friend and they may not have been the cause of the deal, you can still have them handle the transaction for you at a fair fee/%.On the back end, I would definitely consider having them list the property since you've received valuable insight from them. 

Looks like Detroit is a pretty popular answer here...at the risk of being redundant...I'll jump on the bandwagon..In Detroit's defense, it is consistently ranked the #1 cash flow market in the country, so it's kinda inevitable.I'm pretty biased towards Metro Detroit for obvious reasons lol.

He wanted to ask his academy members to provide the properties (for free)... but no one was doing anything at all.Then, finally I was to close a deal with him with one of my buyers, when he told me he doesn't want to pay my split fee that we already agreed!

I agree with Laura's insight on multifamily properties.I've seen developers do well in new construction in the area.Let's connect, I'm looking to network.  

People are stealing Kias left and right, but I'm told that is an issue all over the country.  

Good luck Completely agree with above and makes common sense.

If I hire a VA outside of the country and make VA to send text messages, would there be any significant issues?

Your service alone for your Country is a great conversation to have with a seller/sellers agent.Make sure you Bank/Lender is also offering a loan commitment and not a "generic" pre-approval letter it can make a huge difference.* One thing to keep in mind if the seller knows it will not pass an inspection/Appraisal they may not want to accept VA if they know it will be "Subject to" or fail due to an issue.