There are also the diggers and go-getters - a good illustration of the 80/20 rule.If an agent is representing both the vendor and the buyer {double ending}, it must be disclosed up front - in any  jurisdiction where we have operated both vendor and buyer will be asked to sign a dual agency agreement acknowledging their awareness of the agents role(s) before any offers are submitted.While I agree with you that many agents (the 80%), in the residential space, are simply tour guides with lock-box access.  

When you sign an Agreement of Purchase and Sale (APS) with the seller/vendor of a property, you have entered into a legal contract and are obligated, within the conditions of the contract, to follow through with the purchase.

A really fast concrete vendor can do a foundation like this in a week.Once all of the piers are on, the subfloor is built on top. 

I'm getting quotes from a couple vendors and should make a final decision next week. 

Stephen:Before we walk a property, we research the neighbourhood (going rent rates, vacancy rate, vandalism/crime rate, etc); and run the vendor supplied numbers (rent roll, operating costs) - adding in allowances for maintenance, management, and reserves for CAPEx, while modifying any excessively rosy numbers with estimates/extrapolations based on our experience.We eliminate 9 out of 10 properties before even booking a walkthrough.When you do walk the property, make note of the following: - condition of the envelope (walls/insulation, windows/doors, roof & external cladding);- electrical: breaker panels; grounded circuits (bring a tester); GFCI circuits in bath & kitchen, etc.;- plumbing: ABS vs cast iron or galvanized waste lines; galvanised vs copper or pex supply lines- HVAC: type of heating/cooling system(s); centralized vs separate; age of systems; etc.- finishes and flooring: cabinets, vanities, fixtures, floors, etc.

This allows us to have vendors we can rely on to come when we need them and perform as expected.It takes time and it takes most importantly due diligence on the investors part to vet your vendors.

Setting up QuickBooks file and another adding your tenants, vendors and balances. 1. 

They use the same imagery, but Google Earth is a much more robust environment that gives you tons of additional information.One advantage of using Google Earth would be the ability to pull in more than one vendor's data for the same home, on a single map.  

@Ernad D.Ignore the "Vendor has another showing tomorrow and Wednesday" pressure from the vendor's agent ... you cannot control who looks at the property and what they are willing to pull from their wallet and you definitely *do not*  want to fall prey to the prodding and go off your plan. 

For stuff like this, I always get quotes from multiple vendors.