B) stuff that previously languished for a while is also “pending” offers now including land.

So I just recently purchased my first investment property, and during the process, the mortgage lender was trying to nudge me into getting the loan as a secondary residence (stuff like: "You'll get a lower rate, you can provide a lower down payment, you just need to stay there for 14(?) 

I've bought both places that need no work-well minor stuff that can be done in a day, and places that need a lot more work (1-3 months).

I do wonder, like you, how many landlords have not served the notices...I self-manage so I'm on top of these things but i'm sure most just entrust this stuff to their prop mgrs.

Rentometer is like ZIlliow in that it lumps stuff together and treats them all the same.With apartments.com, you can screen by ZIP (or other location), usually, you can get a picture so you can eyeball if its a match, the size of the complex, and some amenities. 

His advice all boils down either to treating your employees and contractors like absolute garbage in the hopes that they give you a cheap price, or repeating really asinine, useless stuff like "when you have to choose between a high price and a low price for the same work, you choose the low price!" 

Decided to ask others as I'm sure there's a bunch of stuff I missed out on.I'm planning on going around looking for some abandoned or beat up houses in the surrounding cities.

Some of my stuff has been less than 200 sq feet and still met code.

While I would be cautious here given how things developed, I would think that if you have done all of the relevant background research on the original applicant and he met your criteria (3x the rent plus the stuff I mentioned above - you'll need standards so you can treat everybody the same) then it wouldn't matter if he added someone else as his income and credibility should sufficiently cover.

He's sent you some stuff to look at and zero bites from you.Basically, you've done nothing to allow him to make a commission for 2+ years.Why would you think you should be higher on his priority list?