How about utilities? 

If he will be utilized to check the health of the association, bylaws, etc, you can anticipate a bill of in excess of $3000Experienced investors have offer forms they fill out themselves, but unless the state has a promulgated contract, you will be foolish not to engage legal counsel.

I am a new investor looking for suggestions on what is the best way to utilize a real estate agent to help find deals?

Maybe if your spent a ton of money and got a subdivision approved and installed - roads, curbs, percs/septics, utilities - then you would have buildable lots to sell.Ideas:1.

I would definitly utilize that for my 1st purchase if I were you.

The transition will be slow (we have four kids) and will be primarily education followed by some deal finding.2) We'll add to the real estate portfolio to produce an additional $1000/month in income.3) Continue to educate myself through podcasts and books.4) Be available to answer questions on this platform and through my accounting practice.Happy new year!

I much prefer being able to sit and listen to experienced investors talk and things I have read start to make sense when I hear how folks such as yourself have utilized these things.

tracking the comings and goings of students, tracking payments and deposits, paying utilities on the property out of my own pocket.

If 400k is 25% of down payment, then your asset needs to cost $1,6mm.You will need a 10 cap asset to produce you this cashflow consistently. 

I'm all for utilizing technology, so I'm curious to see the responses from others.