I’ll let someone else really breakdown ALL of the benefits of using an agent as a buyer lol.

Essentially, my goal would be to transition from one tenant to another in about 2 weeks without ever having the water bill in my name. 

I remember thinking it was a great idea, but wanted to make sure before setting up something like that, that I understand the pros (so I can tell others why it is a benefit) and the cons (why we may not want to do so). 

@Dominick Stogner a 1031 exchange is a hugely powerful tool that allows you to, essentially (of course there's plenty of paperwork) exchange one investment property for another without paying taxes on the sale of your property. 

At last week's Real Estate Investor's Club in my area, I did pick up some information on Real Estate IQ software that was essentially RePropFinder.

Is it possible to occupy a unit for one month, move out, and still benefit from the 3.5-5% down payment?  

I’m essentially your age (23) and decided to go the out of state route myself.

What are the benefits/negatives of each?

I've been toying with the idea of getting into rentals as some more supplemental income, and although I've struggled with the math as far as justification, i believe the main reasons folks here by rentals (please correct if I'm wrong) are: Cashflow (although I've seen people do deals eg on Roofstock for only $100-200/mo) + appreciation (when sold) + taxesSo assuming I'm correct there, then the potential tax benefits are 30% of the reason to do rentals.

Another benefit would getting him to move down on price, letting him know that he would be making money on the interest.I believe one of the units has a new roof on there but the other one is getting older.