Hello respected BP members.

Are tenents generally more respectable to not break a bunch of stuff and incure high maitnance costs in one then in another?

@Wade GarrettI actually have to respectfully disagree with a lot of the advice above, or at least offer an alternative  speaking from my experience as a landlord and property manager.It may depend on the type of tenant here (and their pay history - i.e. is this a recurring issue every month?)

Even if you clean up for the showing, some junk will probably come back.That said, you may be able to find a tenant that meets all your requirements, is tidy, and respectful and can overlook some debris.This may be especially true if it is otherwise quiet and well located.

If you are trying to buy the homes then a Hard Money Lender can help but to refinance out of those loans you will be subject to the 80% LTV and 75% LTV limit respectively.  

I can see (and respect) where some folks wouldn't be comfortable with that.

Some questions I have include: where should I go to take my pre-licensing course, who are some respectable brokers to work with in the area, what are some good locations in your opinion for a "new to the area" real estate agent to get started, and where would you recommend a single 32 year old female to reside.

Follow ups are key as the average person takes 3-5 touches before picking up the phone to respond.It might help you if you had an idea on what to expect in respect to the response rates.

There were still some gray areas in the contract with respect to the condition of the house and the bank appraisal, and we knew we would be relying on the seller's voluntary cooperation to get to closing.

There is talk to possibly change that as you may have read.With respect to gifting and lack of a step up: the impact of this could, I guess, also be postponed if the kids decide to continue to rent out the property and then later decide to move in themselves or do another 1031-exchange for something else that they rent out.