All of this horror stories, honestly after hearing them I usually had a no duh you failed thought in my head.

Personally, and seeing I was RE agent and still hold a license I can honestly say, I try to stay away from buying with agents involved at all costs.

Also offer then a flat fee, " for every CMA you give me i will pay you XXX.xx " every agent is different so depending who you talk to will depend on what they want. but i would be honest with them and let them know you don't plan to use them to sell you house you just want them to give you a cma. 

My pleasure Nick,Its been around for a while and to be honest with you its quite true.Think about it.

Honestly, not much you can do with that land.

I'll be honest...

Honestly, the answers given thus far are the best in light of the absence of information in the post to give better direction.Let me add some additional thoughts to those already here:In regards to the Attorney Contract.  

I honestly would recommend doing house 2 if your can borrow the money cheaply and it would not affect your business plan.

That was my best find, but it honestly sounds like it doesn't matter if it has a hyphen either.

So, giving you a resident's viewpoint, for what it's worth.As others have mentioned, "downtown" Joliet and most of the area between the Des Plaines River and Interstate 55 is older homes.