I can probably come up with the $300k we have probably $300k in equity in our home and our 401K is probably approaching $1M, and I have a timber property in southern VA that has $150K in equity.

Most agents treat buyers with a vanilla approach, when having an investor as a client requires anything but.

Seth B.We would normally follow the approach Marcia outlined above - take a holding fee (non refundable, but transferrable to their security deposit if a lease is executed).We frequently rent to international students (dealing with two in Germany and one in Australia at the moment).  

You might try approaching the broker and seeing if they would be agreeable to some type of arrangement. 

In my experience the best approach is to share my numbers up front.

So, at least as I approach future properties I'll have a clearer sense of estimating costs. 

(footnote: they don't believe in email. so it wasn't an option.)THE SOLUTION:After spending the evening thinking it over, I figured I could offer a less "daunting" offer by presenting an "Option to Purchase" contract instead of a blatant "Purchase and Sale agreement with assignment clause", which would leave them locked in with me for 30 days.The difference in these two contracts (from my understanding), is that an "Option to purchase" contract would allow the seller to still sell the property to whomever they wanted, while I would also simultaneously be able to market the home at 0 cost to them for 30 days.If a buyer approached them with an offer that was higher than the one in my option contract, they would give me the opportunity to "match the offer", or I could simply walk away from the deal and they could go with the higher price.THE FAIL: As I was fighting traffic demons to get to their property by 3PM, I gave them a call to let the seller know I'll be there soon.

I still would like a more hands on approach to get a good feel for it but at-least I now know the logistics of it.

(Courtesy of Dave Ramsey) If you have a healthy down payment and zero debt, you should be able to find a bank willing to finance real estate. 

I know ethically it's not ok to approach homes that are already listed by an Agent, i understand that and respect it.