Plus for its high cash flow potential, utilizing a 1031 exchange to reinvest gains effectively made this experiment a relatively low risk for me.

Not everyone has the same priorities - some care about interest rates the most, other care about the points the most, getting the most leverage, closing timeline, reputation, smoothness of the transaction, etc. 

A buyer's agent often knows the seller's agent from previous transactions and knows how they work and there usually would not be a question about this.2.

Now, you are asking can you use a Gap/Transactional funder for the downpayment and closing costs? 

Are there any  other effective  platform to list  the house for that purpose ? 

Many people start out active because they want exposure to real estate and don't know that you can start out passive - you can effectively hire the asset manager and supply capital to the investment.You can have great success as an active or a passive investor - but it is important to understand the difference and to select whichever option matches your skills and resources the best.Good luck!

And this seems to be effective. 

Since Zillow doesn’t allow live links in messages (even links to articles on their own site), it’s also challenging to direct people to my own website, where integrating a chatbot would be much simpler and more effective.

@Sam Alpha  I think this thread is effectively over. 

I am a strong advocate for their effectiveness allowing you to do substantially more with your money.