The prices vary widely from $900k+ mansions on the island to $300k ish homes not on the island, but on the Inter-Costal.

It truly varies by inspector and state.

If you want to call yourself a Realtor you have to belong to NAR.Zillow will probably be changing significantly because they have been relying on property transfer records rather than MLS data to determine sales prices.

I would do it when you have a couple of properties, but not when you're just starting out but, of course, the costs/benefits do vary by state.

Zillow is all over the board, varying by several thousand over the years on the same property; I just picked the highest one as a starting point.  

As far as a price range, it really does vary.

You definitely want to have the accurate and up-to-date information that the MLS has - don't rely on Zillow.  

You can meet fellow real estate investors with varying degrees of experience who will be happy to assist you.  

However, many tend to use the following:Vacancy: 4-8%, Repairs/Maint:5-10%, CapEx:6-12%, Prop.Mgmt:8-11%Again, these are just ballpark percentages and may vary depending on each analysis.When it comes to future assumptions, these numbers are not necessarily needed on the acquisition side of the analysis, however it helps in the event you want to sell sometime in the future.

Recent appreciation in So Cal have easily exceeded this amount but I would not want to rely on such appreciation.