If I need to bring loads of stuff, my wife drives me in or I use a rented pickup from our nearby Lowes.

One of the bank loan people I spoke with said that in order to qualify for a non investment property (lower down payment) the new house that I purchase needs to be a "upgrade" otherwise depending on what I do, this could be considered load fraud.

It is like turning on your GPS and not loading a destination.

Also, consider loading up with other contingencies like "Contingent on approval of a business partner" and that business partner can be your cat to protect your earnest money.The sellers/listing agent may not be willing to allow an inspection without an offer but these days anything is possible.

Assuming all the hoses and drain pipes are hooked up properly, there are two likely problem areas.1) On front load washers there is a wide rubber area in front of the drum. 

It may be a bit costly but an idea that comes to mind is you paying for a PODs so they may load up their household goods and you flip the bill for temporary lodging at a hotel. 

in this market if a seller is offering someone who is brand new some deal to buy a huge bundle of properties these could be management intensive and maybe not appropriate for a new investor.. real estate takes a boat load of cash in reserves to handle a huge portfolio.

Starting as a real estate investor is a huge load of new information and, for me at least, makes it hard to really choose which "bridge" to focus on building.

This is mostly to separate out "I have seen someone doing it " vs " i have done it and understand the upside/downside " of it .  1) 30% weight -- past 36 months of listing and/or sold (it cut through market cycle ) 2) 30% weight -- Agent must be actively participating  (with their own fund) 2-5 flips a year (it show the understanding of the cost/hold/financing/rehab etc) 3) 30% weight - Agent must be owning 5 rentals by themselves  (it shows understanding of experience )4) 10% weight - Agents long terms goal + personality ... to hang out with investors, one must have an investor mindset as well as we need to be able to hang out together after a rough day .

The criteria should give more weight to industry specification than geographic proximity.