I bet you one of them has a few houses that they've purchased at previous duty stations and are currently renting. 

Most Realtors will want to make sure we refer our clients to the best possible vendors, because a crappy referral reflects poorly on us. 

I call the closet the poor kitty cat torture chamber. 

A realtor would be your best bet.  

A local real estate attorney is probably your best bet, as there might be local items that need addressed.Additionally, when I bought my first rental, I took a couple of the prior leases I had from when I rented and input pieces I liked from those as well.

The best bet is to have your numbers together, know how high you can go, and stick to that. 

Introduced to the owner (developer) who was cash poor and desperate to keep the project going.

When I started investing, I would spend hours at Barnes and Noble reading every book I could find on real estate investing (my poor wife).

Poor customer service and tech support that you have to pay for after purchase!!!

I'd say your best bet would be to get on a phone with a lender and talk through the proposed situation so they can give you an idea of what you are looking at and how much it's going to cost.