I appreciate the info on working through a broker and will investigate that in more detail.  

But u said the key word "leverage", for a lot of us, our investing future is about strategizing ways to leverage other people's money...

Also you should investigate the values, look for previous appraisals, comps (as you mentioned) tax values and anything else that helps establish a value and include these items with your quote request if possible.

Don't leave things to chance, don't make decisions based on chance or gut feelings (though if your gut is warning you, investigate further), and if the numbers don't pencil out in your favor at the beginning of a project, things will only get worse down the road.

-Michael(Yes, I spelled out Texas as well as TX, and used lawyer and attorney, both to help with people using keywords.)

Instead of spending money in a PPC campaign which can be very expensive, especially if you don't know what you're doing, it is better to get a domain name that is keyword rich.What word or set of words do motivated sellers in the orlando area search for when they need to sell fast?

Be sure to set up key word alerts with the topics you are interested in like "Austin"When you fully engage at BiggerPockets, you'll have a team of mentors.

Know who you are dealing with and then go into the partnership AFTER you've investigated them.

Very good point Brad.Obviously after this long around real estate and the folks that deal in the industry I could write a book on lessons learned.To boil it down, I'd say I found that you can please most people most of the time but you'll never please all the people all the time so get over it.Another to Brad's point, I never really trust what I see, much less what I hear, if I see or hear something that looks or sounds fantastic it just means I have more investigating to do.Another lesson is that it's not so much as to what is written in the contract as it is what's meant between the lines.

We did a rather thorough investigation of the piping (mainly copper with PVC on the inside of the house).