They don’t put you through the ringer like the big banks (Goldman, Merrill,etc) with an exhausting intern or two year analyst program.

The other thing is you want to be sure you are structured properly as far as entity and bank accounts ahead of time to ensure you don't lose anything unnecessarily on taxes or anything (I used to work with international buyers buying turnkeys, so worked through those processes quite a bit).

How about the title mills - are those some kind of internal, online database that a title company has access to? 

If you advertise, that step one in the funnel, if an applicant contacts you electronically, that step two in the funnel, if you pre screen, that is step three in the funnel, if you check credit and or background search, that is step four in the funnel, if you deny some applicants, that is step five in the funnel, if you select one applicant to lease too, that is step six in the funnel.You can enter the data just once, in only one system, then click a button for each step, using a decision tree you define!

My short term goals include constantly gaining as much knowledge as possible about real estate investment, and working/interning for a local real estate company in the high country to gain hands-on and networking experience.

Hi Dave,  Would it be possible that the agent could place a Supra or other electronic lockbox on the home, even if he charges an additional fee for this? 

Flipping PropertiesIf the primary objective of your real estate business, or one of your real estate businesses, is to buy, potentially fix up an existing property and resell it within one year, the Internal Revenue Service can consider that to be an active trade or business.

And any recommendation of local mortgage brokers/lenders that work with international buyers?

I usually try and hire interns or someone local who is looking for some part time work. 

A cash-flow of $50/month would not be sufficient to deal with your own internal maintenance of the unit, let alone a project levy by the HOA.However, in some markets and for some folks condominiums make fine rentals (unless the HOA changes the rules about owner occupants), but the numbers need to make sense - after all of your operating expenses, you need enough NOI to service debt and fund a capital reserve (for those "oops" from the HOA.One note of caution on the BP calculators: They are U.S.A. specific.