My problem is I am researching possible properties but until I am ready to go I don't want to bother a Realtor so it would be good if there was a way to get comps without a Realtor.Some obvious ways that I can think of is pull up records in the court house for properties that have sold in the area and try to pick out the ones that are similar to your property, use Zillow, Zillow is great but there are not many properties listed in my area.Any other ideas?

I chose this time so that it was not impacted by COVID.Renovation costs are reasonable and low risk.The property and tenant will not be bothered by some local annoyance.

This has always bothered me because I felt like we should have been able to use the acquisition price of $445k since it was our intent to eventually rent it out.Is it reasonable to find a CPA who might be able to make the adjustment and file amended returns for the previous years?

Wouldn't bother me in the least. 

These problems are often interrelated--for instance, if there's not enough space, this makes it more likely that the noise one housemate makes will bother another housemate.  

I heard a webinar the other day in which Brandon mentioned and demonstrated the calculators of the Bigger Pockets website.I was really impressed but something bothered me.Is there any relevance to the area/zip code/neighborhood i choose to invest in or is it just a matter of numbers?

We attempted the first scenario but we have run into many issues where the lender has had to have his credit checked many times and is constantly being bothered by the bank since he is the source of the money. 

I would not bother brokers or sellers.

I generally don't bother to bookmark anything that isn't going to quickly return at least a 400% ROI and at least $400,000 back. ($100k invested returns $400k back, plus the value of the residual land).

Just anecdotally from what I see, most folks don't bother.