I am new and firmly in the education stage of my future real estate career I have read some great books and have been listening to the pod casts non stop.

I have one major requirements for my property manager and that is he is to contact and use my trusted and vetted handymen for all non emergency repairs and maintenance calls.

The key feature in this case is whether it was an exclusive or not.If it was a non-exclusive right to sell, the seller was within his rights to sell to any other party.

It is not OK to brag about your non-existing inventory or customer base.

Can I also pay non-professionals to find me investors?

**I used all your numbers, public info from the Bigger Pockets mortgage calculator and public info on the Williamson County Tax Assessor's website.

Based on what you said, I wouldn't do this for the first deal because unlike all those gurus say it DOES take money and a LOT of time to get it right.I'm sure there are other ways to find deals but as you can see non are "the answer" but there is a common theme there: you have to network with other peers in the industry.

But I do agree with investing in an area along a good public transit line into Camden, and starting checking out along the River Line, specifically Riverside, NJ. 

@Blake Gansborg,My favorite non-text book about real estate finance is: What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know About Cash Flow by Frank GallinelliI does an excellent job of breaking down different financial metrics and giving good examples.

Have purchased two properties like this which never were publicly put up for sale.