While you may occasionally find a residential agent asleep at the wheel, letting you tie up a SFR, commercial agents are much more tuned in to having real buyers, legit POF's, etc.

Economists had expected a stronger labor market and cheaper gas to lead to more shopping, but that effect hasn’t panned out.

This is a case of ready fire aim where you need to have your ducks in a row before you start talking to sellers and making offersThe home sellers deserve all the possible information from you the real estate investor to know what their options areThere is an attorney in Ohio called  Jeff Watson and he interviewed the oh real estate commission as far as the complaints from homesellers about Real Estate Investors talking to Sellers and tying up their properties with option contracts and sale and purchase agreements with the sole intention of assigning them, not buying them, ever.Search here on Bp for Jeff WatsonIn Ohio if you're not licensed you need to be able to have the ability to close on the transaction, meaning to buy the property with Hardmoney if for some reason you cannot find a buyer to flip toI highly recommend you get your license so that you can talk to Sellers about flipping contracts or doing lease option assignmentsYou want to get on title with either subject to, wraparound mortgage, or buy with HardmoneyThen you can do your exit: resell, lease, lease option, or sell on land contractAnd by the way that real estate agent doesn't know anything about contract law, the contract can be assigned unless it's specifically written in the contract that it cannot be assigned

I'm going to make a trip out that way within the next few weeks to get a stronger feel for which pockets are good and bad, but I'm open to suggestion. 

And that is true if you are tied into the market or spending scores and scores of hours scouring and rejecting until the gem if found.  

Tie one up for 1% of purchase price and assign for 3% may be a good goal.  

Tie the cabinets together with some glass tile using a bright white grout.  

You might get different answers to the real estate agent question, but my opinion and experience shows that as an investor, you shouldn't necessarily tie yourself just to one agent.  

Investors have the same risks of wasting time/tying up funding(even if it is just a down-payment).  

How much cash do you have tied in it and would that cash make you more money in another property even if you make less on this one?