There are some things they have in common, others differ.

The other bit of my question is whether anyone's opinion is changed at all by the commonly held idea that the market may be topping out a bit.

Also as Dave mentioned, the easiest way to bring in a partner is to acquire the new property in a tenants-in-common (TIC) legal structure, which would allow for the 1031 exchange.  

Any suggestions on common sense banks would be appreciated.

@Wayne Brooks makes sense about re/max and kw. i can't imagine companies like redfin follow that same franchisee model, though.

My thoughts are that if you are accredited, it might make sense to take some cash and invest it w/the folks that spend 100% of their time finding the best markets, attractive value add properties and have been doing it for a long time.  

In fact, there is one being offer by DIG outside Philly this Sat (October 8th).As for plumbing and utilities, this is quite common and just estimate $1000-$2000 for plumbing and $6000 as a contingency for HVAC.

see, this is where I start questioning myself, because that logic just makes too much sense.

I believe a lot of our investors have success because the rent to value ratio makes sense, our PM is 8% and also our taxes are very low (I'm in Kansas City.)

It just has to make sense number wise, if you can get it at a great price compared to what you can sell it for then go for it.