From there, I was even more shocked when 2 of them sent me docu-signs with their agreement and asked me to sign before they even would look at the property, get on a call or meet up in person. 

Is it standard to pay the fee if the property is already occupied with a tenant? 

For me, I keep lunch spots open to meet with people wanting to do business with me including potential clients, mortgage brokers, title reps, insurance agents and financial planners.

At 1100sq ft, a standard rehab will probably be $30k, so $125,000 × .7 = $87,500.

Syndications and DSTs may or may not qualify for a condo like-kind exchange, depending on the asset and structure of the exchange.If it were me, a small MF is exactly what I would purchase next, depending on the amount of the proceedsI would also get an agent to find the next deal for you, one that works with investors and can simply bring you properties that meet the 1031 and your criteria.

Is there a standard pay rate in the industry that people are using to pay an Acquisitions Manager?

If you ever want to meet up let me know.There are some good local meet ups you should attend.To answer your question, yes you can write off passive losses up to 25k if your a W2 employee and depending on income.

Right now all of us are fine since we meet the 51% owner-occupied guidelines for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in regards to warrantable loans. 

There are a ton of resources to help you learn on this site.Attend local REIA meetings and connect with like-minded investors: http://www.biggerpockets.com/meetRead the Beginner’s Guide: http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investingListen to the BP Podcasts: http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/category/podcast/

How do we go about making sure the job that we paid for gets completed, and what they ruined gets fixed to our standards?