I am also a real estate agent and was able to collect commission on the off market deal.

As an agent, I scrub the tax and property records for data to find off market deals and skip trace using a combination of spokeo (alright) and batch skip tracing (better) and call using mojo dialer. 

Study the markets you are targeting and find investors/agents/property managers in those areas to network with.

in future I won’t put down 10k deposit neither. as far as what I know that sellers agent said they have another offer on hand, that wasnt too long after the price drop to 224k, i might have trust issue but maybe she made it up?

Educate yourself on the local market, network with other investors and agents, and always have a solid plan in place before making any investments.Also, I recommend reading “Long-Distance Real Estate Investing: How to Buy, Rehab, and Manage Out-of-State Rental Properties” - I found it to be very helpful when I got started investing 2.5 years ago.

Explore options like crowdfunding platforms or connecting with experienced sponsors who welcome smaller investments.2.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

I read somewhere that only 5% of real estate agents know that previous marijuana grow in a house has to be disclosed.

Many places, such as California, Florida, etc are experiencing a significant increase in insurance cost.

Investor and agent local to Raleigh.