Then start reaching out to real estate agents in the area you like with a specific focus on agents that have experience working with investors if you can find one.

Take Jonathan Catalano, a savvy agent from ERA Brokers Consolidated in Las Vegas, for example.

Did you find an agent in the Gorge who actually owns an STR there?

I am also a real estate agent and was able to collect commission on the off market deal.

As an agent, I scrub the tax and property records for data to find off market deals and skip trace using a combination of spokeo (alright) and batch skip tracing (better) and call using mojo dialer. 

Study the markets you are targeting and find investors/agents/property managers in those areas to network with.

Educate yourself on the local market, network with other investors and agents, and always have a solid plan in place before making any investments.Also, I recommend reading “Long-Distance Real Estate Investing: How to Buy, Rehab, and Manage Out-of-State Rental Properties” - I found it to be very helpful when I got started investing 2.5 years ago.

If you really want to get involved with MTNs dive in by joining a reputable firm.

Make sure you are dealing with a reputable contractor or keep looking till you find one.

in future I won’t put down 10k deposit neither. as far as what I know that sellers agent said they have another offer on hand, that wasnt too long after the price drop to 224k, i might have trust issue but maybe she made it up?