They will appreciate you 10 times more in the end and you won't carry a scarlet letter for years with the OTAs

Maybe eve a guy that carries used appliances for swapping out. 

Because those that doing well is just lucky , get a damn good price on a great deal, or making sure there is much demand in that particular area or plan on buying many homes quickly to reduce their risk of any vacancies.   

Would they carry over to the next year?

I believe for your first investment property you should look into using the Master Lease Option method, it has the least amount of risks as there is no down payment and and you can essentially "test drive" the property before deciding whether or not to buy it.

Also, they will have taken their rental return into account, which carries on! 

However to combat that, Your loan in your 401k like a stable value or money market fund when you figure out your overall risk assessment, so you still don’t miss out if the market goes higher.

I think that model with the least amount of risk right now is buy in a good school area (7 or 8), 20-30K in rehab and rent it out for 1-2 years while the market appreciates. 

Unless you have a track record with selling lots/converting existing single family homes into multifamily dwellings this is a pretty high risk deal.

Some charge more if they perceive more risk, some charge as little as a point if you have a lot of experience and a great deal.