You can use a cap rate for your internal use but when you sell or refi price will be based on comps.

I now live in a small town in Northern New Jersey and after months of internal debate, I think its time.I'm here on BP to learn about real estate (specifically Rental Properties), to meet new people, and to have a chance to live the life that I dreamed of when I was a kid going to baseball games with my uncle on a weekday because he didn't have to be stuck in an office for work. 

You mention you would like to own rental properties, I would suggest to start with that, you can use the 30K as down payment on a property, self manage that property so you can learn more about that process.If the area you live in is too expensive for you to buy, look at other areas close by, even if it's an 1-2 hour drive, remember you don't have to drive there a lot, outsource maintenance and collect rent electronically, it's doable and can teach you a lot while learning on the job.

The Denver MSA has many economic clusters that are attracting investment and producing jobs: aerospace, logistics, bioscience, fashion, electronics, and infrastructure engineering. 

Im not an expert on visas, but I do have a few international friends that came here on student visas and are finding it very hard to stay long term.

Most agencies (local or even international like Sotheby's) are avoiding it with the excuse of "being far from the capital Lisbon", that is currently booming.Looking for suggestions/ideas on how to tackle this.

I am using TenantCloud - rather then having everyone pay $35 application fee - should I have a "pre-application" page for them to fill out on site or send them one electronically? 

I recommend that you stay on the safe side and do send 1099s to your wholesalers.You do not need to send 1099-MISC in these cases: You paid the contractor electronically (PayPal or Credit Card).

I tried applying for a HELOC on my primary residence, but the electronic appraisal (has some fancy name... can't remember what exactly) came back too low for the loan.I'm back at the drawing board and asking my more experienced BP community of investors what they would do in this situation? 

An elderly tenant had trouble coming down 2 flights of stairs to let in her visiting nurse -- an electronic keypad entry lock fixed that.