Split everything down the middle and see where it takes you.I actually disagree with this approach...Part of running a business is having as much control over each aspect of the business as possible (even if you delegate the actual work and don't do it yourself).

In addition to focusing on the physical aspects of your property, I would also focus on the "process" of the appraisal, which several other people have already mentioned.Find those sales comps that support the valuation you are looking for and share them with the appraiser. 

If you absolutely want to pay a substantial amount of money for RE education, your best bet IMHO is to find a seasoned RE coach who will provide both education and, crucially, accountability.

Surprisingly, most agents are not investors in Real EstateAssess their know how of the financial aspects of the investment i.e. how well they can assess an investment property.

It is absolutely crucial not to get bogged down in the learning phase. 

Look at it from a financial aspect only.

Now to focus on this aspect.

You have one side of story. landlord however will be less likely to lie to fellow landlord and I weigh landlord references over all credit reports, and tenant provided information etc. perfect credit doesn't really matter if the last landlord told me the applicant was a nitpicker, always late with rent, dirty, or [insert nightmare issue here].please be sure to reference the screening primer to make sure you have all other aspects covered:http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2011/3/31/screening-tenants-primer/

This is the one critical aspect of REI that is often not spoken about: business models and systems.

Training/workshops are useless on a national level as almost all aspects are very state specific, and often county/city specific.