A possible solution could be to hire a handyman to cut out the section of drywall that has been water damaged and use a moisture meter to see if there is excessive moisture in the wood and other parts of the drywall. 

I don't know what they are but unless there's something in the city that requires that kind of notice, it sounds excessive to me.

Are they commission based, flat fee?

Try not to pick flat farm ground.  

By the time you do that 4-5 times you should be able to have a paid off home or excess funds to invest in other assets.

It also includes managing your existing investment well to ensure you aren't bleeding money due to bad tenants, excess maintenance, etc. 

if anything then I would set a flat fee to pay them for their service and then if you do find a property that offers buyers agents money, in which almost all I have seen still do...then I would have the title company back out the amount you decided on and the agent gets the remainder of the amount of commission that's left over. 

We are still only in the beginning stages of this upswing as Windsor started far below intrinisic value as there was an excessive drop in prices from the 08 crises that lasted for a decade.Hope this helps!

I do / done many rent to own (contract for deed) and a few seller finananced deals where I keep the note.Why not in parallel use a flat fee listing on MLS too?   

(your 55 days of vacancy was for the most part the holiday period).Vacancies are pretty high and based on BLS statistics, population growth has been flat.