Do you rely more on the deal itself or the person behind it?

Require co-signers (like their parents), check references from previous landlords or college housing, verify enrollment status, and personal interviews to gauge responsibility.6.

The person they consider having the deep pockets. 

I think they contain solid information and will help lay a good foundation as a beginner (Haha, I'm completely new to real estate as well, btw)I'm also going to be reading the following books, and hopefully I can finish all by the end of this month:1) The ABCs of Property Management2) The Advanced Guide to Real Estate Investing3) Long-Distance Real Estate Investing How to Buy, Rehab, and Manage Out-of-State Rental Properties (this might be the most important one to me personally)4) The Book on Investing in Real Estate with No (and Low) Money DownIn addition to reading, I'm consuming crazy amounts of youtube videos, and I'recommend you do this as well.

The pro development and affordable housing advocates use the term NIMBY, but I suspect it is the rare person that buys in a single family zoned area that would be thrilled to have 17 units (qp16 additional units added) in the lot next to them.My initial protege was the land source on this effort.  

@William Taylor so many options...Use your RE knowledge to: WholesaleFind rental deals to sell to investors locally or here on BPStart leveraging your personal contacts to build your sales businessFind a motivated seller willing to do seller financing:- Move in worst room or basement, rent out all the other rooms for max cashflow- You could even live in the basement and STR the rest of the house

The feedback seems a bit general or maybe you just condensed it for the post...If not, I'd personally have a chat with your agent about what they are asking in those follow-up questions and hope they are assertively making those follow-up phone calls with your showings.

If it's a consultation with him personally - it should be very valuable.

I haven't seen a lot of discussion about this topic which surprises me since I feel like personal finance people talk about HSAs all the time! 

I have two books to recommend, one podcast, and then one more summit happening in person in May for syndication investors.