It may work but I wouldn't bet my paycheck on it.

You wouldn't want to make a bet like that and have the city tell you that your business model isn't legal anymore.

IMO, you best bet is to define your goals, objectives, liquidity constraints, budget and time commitment (how active or passive you'd like to be).

I told this neighbor that the contractor is just blowing smoke, but my neighbor says this guy seems to be nice guy and giving him a few bucks won't hurt, so I made a bet with my neighbor, gave him $80 to give this contractor, but I bet this guy would come in a few hours, take the money, and disappears for another week.What happened?

So it sounds like I need to figure this initial involvement of the contractor as cost of analyzing deals. ...because if the contractor comes back with an estimate of repairs that is too high to make the deal attractive then I'd be out that fee for his service.

Has anyone been involved (worked) for Primerica?

For NJ you can find that website hereWith regards to values...your best bet is to start with Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com, and Trulia.

A few questions are: What involvement or risk do the other two have in this process?

I have heard great things about Bigger Pockets and started listening to their podcast and want to be more involved on the site.

@Ryan McKean im not local but I can bet most will tell you '3 miles from campus' is too broad to get an accurate rent estimate...