Disclosing material negotiation facts about their client is just wrong and self-defeating I don't get that at all! 

After shifting through tons of material, I've decided that wholesaling is the smartest avenue to start my real estate career.

Is there a better place to buy materials in Houston other than the big box stores?  

@Brandon Turner Thanks for the starter material!

This is going to be a tough decision.  

You can also look at how it changes the value of the property overall (if, at the market CAP rates, it's effect on increasing NOI results in a value increase of $10K, then it's worth it in that regard as well).Tough thing is, you'll probably be doing other renovations as well to increase rents, and/or existing rents may be low already when you purchase it; so you'll have to try to tease out the effects on rents from just the utilities transfer (and they will be lower than with the utilities included).

It is tough because even in the populated area of NJ this house was in there were not a lot of recent 2 family sales and the appraisal was impacted.  

For younger/mid cycle guys it can be tough breaking even or making repairs out of pocket because rents are paying down so much principle each month. 

So, it's a tough business.The brokerage is not as important as you think. 

Being a family of 6 ourselves, I totally understand how tough this is.