A good agent will have an enstablished client base of owners and users to call upon and an active network.  

It all depends on the base flood elevation of the property in relation to the base flood elevation of the land...You can still get your premiums reduced by getting a elevation certificate.

I have financed all of my rental property myself the last few years and my wife's DTI never comes up, it's all based on my financials.

Would you recommend I use a local, Houston-based, accountant (I have a W-2 job here in Houston)? 

You have to make the bet that you might do well, break even, or have a big loss.If a buyer has limited funds and net worth they do not need to get sucked in by the potential of high cash flow and landing nice tenants that pay on time and take care of the place with low income type properties.Think of this.Someone buys a piece of junk and hopes the building doesn't fall apart and the tenant pays on time so they can cash flow 200 to 300 a month based on current market rents for that product type.So 2,400 to 3,600 a year if everything goes perfectly with no surprises.

After our house is fixed up, I think it should be worth about 725K based on the comps, with no market changes.

View report*This link comes directly from our calculators, based on information input by the member who posted.Offer price $140k, estimated repairs $25k.

*This link comes directly from our calculators, based on information input by the member who posted.

If I can net 8% in my passive stock portfolio (this is an example average), then it's hard for me to want to work so much harder for 5% in my property investment.Again, this is based on my primary goal of cash flow.  

Was your decision to go this route cost based or is this a new trend?