I do have this property under contract currently and I am trying to get financing in the manner that I stated above but if there is a better idea I am all ears! 

We chose to rent through Lloyd Properties because they also have a real estate division and your apartment lease contract has a clause allowing for early termination of your apartment lease (with no fees/fines) after 45 days in the unit if you close on a property using a Lloyd Properties Real Estate Agent. 

I'm currently under contract for a house in Baltimore County. 

As on many multi-unit properties, there is no showings until under contract on this one.

The appraiser has a copy of the contract, then looks at the market to see if the sales price is a justifiable amount for the lender to lend against.

I currently have a deal on a duplex that's under contract and I've run into some appraisal issues with the current hard money lender I'm using at the moment because they're using appraisers who are not familiar with the market of the local area. 

I have a 3 family under contract and am getting quotes of around 5.25% on an investment property.seems high to me.

I have found a friend of family member that is looking to sell 5 properties, do you guys usually meet at the title company to sign contracts or can that be done anywhere?

However generally speaking I believe that if you can pass a driving test you can study and pass a RE Salespersons test with the same amount of energy.Now actually selling RE/contracts/farming/networking etc are another story, but getting licensed is easy.Good Luck in your adventure!

You're not a wholesaler trying to quickly get a contract signed and submitted to the title company to lock in your deal.