I live about 10-15 minutes away from our properties, but running over there to wait around to meet a prospective tenant isn't always practical.  

In the area I primarily practice in, short sales and foreclosures can take a long time to process so it might not be the agents fault at all.

This will be much more seamless and quicker than trying to find a non owner 4 unit 2nd which is practically non existent as far as I know.

Nicole, I would wholeheartedly suggest to you to stay away from RE investing until you acquire more knowledge - practical and theoretical, and become comfortable with it.

It's a unique blend of truth, reality and practicality, as well as encouragement, challenge and passion...definitely a love "of the game" and a distinct passion is evident in both your style of writing and the simplistic presentation and flow of the comprehensive content.So far, it's just been...WOW!  

What practical use will $8200 be in trying to fix the roof, cover monthly expenses, and lost income?  

-Any other tips or best practices?

We have some capital and would like to buy and flip but would like to get practice by starting with wholesaling.

What your usual practice is.  

As part of my research/practice I've been using the method described in The ABCs of Real Estate Investing (great book BTW) to determine prices using the formula Purchase Price=NOI/Cap Rate.