Just go in with reasonable expectations, and be prepared to change your strategy if it gets too difficult/stressful. 

A 10k rehab sounds like a lot less stress to me!

I would stress to anyone reading this that’s not successful yet read those parts of your post over and over.

My final thought- it's MUCH better to have a place vacant for a month or two and find a great tenant than it is to fill it immediately with someone who might make your year a very stressful (and expensive) one.

Oh Vey 

Depending on your circumstances, an agent will likely already know an attorney that might fit your profile better (i.e. 1st time homebuyer, investment property, condo, etc) as some tend to perform better with certain deals.Moral of the story, save yourself some stress and time... let an agent start working for you. 

Seems to be that the ARV is crucial and the after rehab appraisal is the time when most would begin to stress.

Upon further thinking about this and trying to be realistic - I'm guessing there are a variety of situations out there and anyone who owns property has to decide how they want to run their operation.If they have a smooth running operation and there is little or nothing to do - they simply are not going to hire me.If, on the other hand, they have some "problem" and "headaches" I think they will be running and not walking to hand over these problems and saying to themselves "this is not worth the stress and the headaches"It takes a certain person and set of skills to be a cop or a principal in a rough school or a dorm residence hall manager or a bouncer at a bar and not everyone is cut out for that.I'm not sure I want to deal with it either and that's probably what I'm looking at if I actively pursue this and go to the time, effort, and expense to deal with difficult people, criminals, conflict, evictions, and the legal system.Thanks again and I appreciate your advice!

Overall, they've been very helpful with my questions and I think they're knowledgeable, and next time it will be easier now that I know what to expect, and I don't mean to place 100% of blame on them, but it's been a stressful closing period!

I love a stress free life and not worrying about if a tenant is trashing my investment on an ongoing basis.