Bidding wars are routine and it seems like the good deals come and go within days.I'm looking for a couple of things:1.  

Send personalized, hand written thank you notes after your open house to everyone that attended. 

Circa 2005-2006 I built a couple of spec houses and made a few bucks not really knowing much.

I have been reading as much as possible on REI for a couple months now (Larry Loftis - Duplexes, Triplexes, and Quads, McElroy - ABC's of RE, Lindahl - Multi-Family Millions, Gallinelli - What Every REI Needs to Know About Cash Flow).

I will be visiting them the next couple week and looking to review properties.

Wondering if it's possible for realtors to attend live auctions on an investor's behalf, if I'm unable to attend myself?

Not sure why you would pass on potential good tenants because you don't want to pay out a couple of hundred dollars.  

I am starting from ground zero, but I've envisioned owning a couple of  vacation rentals and longer term rentals.

We have attended a few seminars and and webinars and invested a small fortune on books about investing, but nothing beats experience and advice from other investors and that's what we are so desperate for.We own 2 other businesses. 1 pays all the bills and 1 pays sometimes, lol.

In your ad you can't say that this property is close to "The So-and-So Church", or "Perfect for couples" or anything else that would show that you are targeting a certain type of people.I specify that income must be at least 3x that of the rent, and since my rent is on the higher end, I usually get better people wanting to apply.