Months later, Tenant is now claiming close to 10K.

If you need financial help, ask under the "Finance, Tax, and Legal" forum.

It is always nice to live close to your rental properties (although not absolutely necessary), and as a military guy you are able to choose where you retire to.

We thought it was a done deal; buyer did not show for the closing!!  

Depending on how close I was to having 20% equity in the property and being able to avoid PMI, I’d consider using some of my cash to pay down the mortgage when I refinanced.

Just not seeing any rents close to the property for 3/4 bedroom properties that would cash flow for a mortgage that size.

Although I conducted a basic septic inspection during the closing, and the system is in good working condition, it still failed the STR inspection.

So same thing as an agent pick a technique and stick to it.Myself personally when I started as an agent I did not do follow up like I should have but what i did do was become a CLOSESR  If i got in front of them my success rate was very high so thats where I put my energy and my moto was next..If I could not close them first meeting I moved on the next. 

Here’s a more polished version of your message:Hello BiggerPockets community,A close friend has been encouraging me to get into real estate investing for years.

I work closely with a cash buyer in the Rochester ny area.