I am comfortable with splitting many things across the schedule E properties where they can generally apply to all of those properties - but don't have a good way to deduct things like travel expenses / mileage for visiting potential properties.  

Deduct all expenses on a Schedule E for the units that are rented.

I've been working in Africa off and on for a little over a year now with this company and it's put me into a position to start my life off in an incredible way (according to my standards).

The areas I know of, the standard rentals are 3-4k a month and Airbnb is 10K plus reportedly. 

The BEST way to get your foot in the door is to monitor it yourself, wait for the property to go vacant (even before it goes to foreclosure auction) and call that Broker or whomever is listed on the "IN CASE OF EMERGENCY" sign on the front door or window-- this is standard requirement again for most banks, placing that sign.4-Equity firms- Here's some good news...

I am now in the process of filing my 2014 return and due to the limited number of months that I rented the property (November/December), the number of deductions that I am able to take from the home purchase and a few repairs that I did prior to move in, my rental income is showing as -$3300 for 2014.

You must also understand Agents are held to an impossible standard by the board of realtors and are open to huge liability issues for even giving a "leading" opinion.

You could drop standard yellow letters a the places that pique your interest.

Is that standard practice?

I m not an accountant but my understanding is that all costs prior to being available for rent go into the basis of the property and are not deductible.