One of the main reasons investors and others  buy from wholesalers is to avoid realtor commissions.

The buyers had dropped their offer down to $197 based on an appraisal that came in at 190k (the exact thing that we were drying to avoid by writing an exception into our initial counter offer).

First ask if there are any areas you should completely avoid (as a couple people) and if they all say the same thing its probably a good bet its true.

The Stockade neighborhood in Schenectady is another area to avoid due to flooding concerns.

Are any of these neighborhoods we should avoid?

I just use Postlets these days to avoid the million calls and texts from people who aren't serious.

I'm actually not looking for professional sports necessarily... just want to avoid tiny towns with "nothing to do."

While they would incur the gift tax, they can simply use their unified tax credit and avoid any taxes.

Ask for referrals.Personally, I don't think fees are as important because the lower cost guys typically either have hidden fees or provide poor property management that creates avoidable costs.

Rentals generate passive income that avoids the pesky self-employment (SE) tax.