An agent will also know how to transact deals without getting scammed (or at least minimize your exposure).

Now I am faced with a decision, do I sacrifice cash flow and increase my risk exposure to take out the most tax-free refi proceeds or do I balance cash flow with refi proceeds to manage the risk?

For example, if you only do a few a year, one LLC is fine since you limited exposure. 

Your best bet for maximum exposure is probably going to be the MLS.

but, I personally find it unsatisfying and frustrating to have someone start a thread about them investing in RE syndication and asking other investors experience only to find that they have started the same exact thread many times in the past AND  after my exposure to their post....and then to top it off they are not even really investors, nor are they really going at the topic from an investor mindset, but, rather have a purely 100% ulterior motive of promoting their own syndication....AND to add injury to insult, they are really horrible garbage investments.My opinion of most accredited investors, is that trust is a key component for them, when investing in Syndication. if the networking technique is disingenuous, it just comes off as corny-time-share-tactics-manipulative base level conduct that is unappealing, untrustworthy and wastes time.I will say that all your points of essentially "caveat emptor" regarding ones own filter for things anywhere on the internet(including BP)are true, but, the benefit of micro-social media- climates like Bigger Pockets is that you get the benefit of other like minded, maybe even I dare say "smarter than me" individuals, weeding out what is the inevitable dissent into Craiglistification of said micro climate...meaning that eventually if all the post, or some critical mass of the posts, become of the aforementioned disingenuous type, the benefits of the this type of forum become less evident or more cumbersome and timely to get value from, and maybe even have negative return on time-equity.....IMHO

One of the biggest reasons investors diversify their real estate investment portfolio is to mitigate risk exposure.

This approach helps my sellers by giving their property sufficient exposure to the market and generally results in multiple offer situations, but it also gives buyers, who are by and large, from out of state, an opportunity to come and see the property in person or at least have their buyer's agent do virtual FaceTime or Zoom showings for them.

The theory is that if you own an individual asset in an individual LLC, your exposure to liability is limited to that individual asset, and a faulted party cannot come after any other assets, personal or business.

You'll see peeling faster on the south and western exposures.

As far as getting exposure to investing in real estate, much of the population considers their personal home as an investment.