I prefer shopping with a broker who can provide insurance from several companies.

You used to have ma-and-pa shops all over the place and the Byte shop.  

with what the market wants & will dictate (i don't love this layout & I can find something else for a comparable price so I'll keep shopping around).

Wake Forest Area with good access to shopping and highways.

I work full time at a machine shop for about 25-30k a year and I've decided to move to Poughkeepsie New York area in July of 2020 to move closer to family and hopefully have more homes to choose from.

The issues was not that it needed basement work, that we had to move the staircase to a better loaction, that it needed a roof or that it also needed a new driveway - we knew how to handle all these things and had done them before - the problem was that the list was too long.It's a little bit like grocery shopping and you wonder how the heck did I just spend $160 and you look on the receipt and there is nothing really expensive - it's just a really long list.The good news is that the house turned out great, the value has increased since and more than made up for the massive remodel bill and it cashflows very well. 

I'm looking for best practices to employ while shopping for mortgage loans for investment properties (small multi-family and SFR).  

You are an independent operator shopping for a mentor who is going to take a cut of your pie and charge you rent to hang your license.

Also consider driving for dollars, posting signs at coffee shops, etc. 9.

On any given week I'm shaking hands and talking shop with more sellers, buyers, wholesalers, lenders, contractors, realtors, investors etc than I can count.