Could be less than an attorney. 

Home could be bought by other than an investor but seems investors are there first to get their stake.

You're less than an hour's drive to @Carl Fischer at CamaPlan. 

If someone is eligible for a Solo 401k, it's usually a good idea to start with one rather than an IRA.

So you'll end up exhausting the repair account, and dipping into your operating or personal account, thus making the accounting very confusing come tax time. 

I can't imagine traveling from Philly to Washington DC to do business anymore than an agent traveling between Pittsburgh and Somerset/Seven Springs in PA as the commuting time in both scenarios are almost the same.

I have done these in the past for existing clients and can tell you working for both buyer and seller it's more work than it sounds and I had to earn that money.Just calculating fair market value is worth it and the difference could be more than an entire 6% comission.

Save 10% of your net income for a down payment, going direct deposit into a bank account.See http://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/3/blog_posts/38...Why a ROFR is better than an option.

Studios are fine but you will have more turnover than an average place.

Are they just far enough away from a metro area where a day trip would be exhausting, but a weekend trip would be worth it?