@Ariel Goldenberg,Just my opinion ...Unless the asking price was significantly below fair market value (FMV), you were doomed from the outset.

@Daniel Gonzalez's approach also isn't crazy.You can mix them:If you find a deal on redfin/mls/whatever, you're using that agent for doing normal agent things and they earned their check.If you find it on your own, or if another agent brings you that deal and sells it to you, that means they closed the sale and earned that check.Your primary go-to person needs to be exactly one agent at a time to be fair.

Most of the negative things I've heard stem from the fact about 70% of the residents in the areas are renters vs. homeowners and the market is flooded/competitive for rentals (I've looked up some numbers and they do seem to be roughly in that range).My thought process (I'm a newbie, but still) is that if the place has decent PM or self-management and is priced fairly it will rent *shrugs*.

Greetings BP,I am a fairly new investor and the problem I am running into, is finding a contractor to do complete or partial rehabs.

When starting out closing costs can be fairly high until you leverage volume and negotiate investor rates with a title company.  

I am up to 16 properties now and have a fairly good idea of some aspects of the lending world, but I was hoping there may be something out there that I did not know about.

If that is the case, consider exploring the ROBS 401k which is a type of 401k that allows one to invest in their own real estate operating company and also draw a fair salary. 

Im still fairly new to BP myself but I already see great value in being involvedI like that you are venturing into new construction also, i have helped my dad build homes in Irving and it has gone pretty well currently working on the 4th.

So, referring to the original question, what do you believe is the fair market rule for rent to purchase ratio in Knoxville?

Look for a bargain or an area that will not be so prone to a correction.