Generally a pre-determined or set fee may be considered a penalty, therefore it is usually not permitted."

This will allow me contract electrical work as well as pull permits for my own work. 

Those are going to be seriously cash flow negative, so there is no prospect of buying these for income

Get the required permits.

He's already referred a (seemingly) good tenant prospect & I know he'll keep an eye on my place.

I suppose for right now that the prospects for being an agent are more important to me (if I REALLY want to invest in the state I don't pick a few years down the line I can get a license there too)....I'm hoping that some of you might be willing to discuss your experiences and opinions on which state might show more promise for someone in my situation.some personal factors that might influence my decision:-i grew up in VA and know the northern areas of it extensively, don't know Maryland at all-but driving to VA from DC is considerably more difficult than driving to anywhere in MD-I will only be able to part-time until I build up a good network - and in rush-hour (when I'd be able to show homes during the week), driving about 10 miles away to somewhere in northern virginia (to show a home) could take up to 2 hours.

During tenant screening we ask prospective tenants what kind of place they are looking for.... what features are important to them.... what is their idea of the ideal landlord?  

As for needing to get city/engineer involved, I would think you would want to do it with all necessary permits if you are concerned at all with resale value.

Sounds like with a $60k rehab you would have to be pulling permits, which means if that wasn't permitted that way, you just may run into some issues.  

Go down to the city planning/permit department and check and see how many commercial permits have been pulled in the last 12 to 24 months.