Look online to see if any properties are being offered for sale or rent with a legal basement unit and you may get a tip off.

This is not something you will get online you need an attorney to draft documents and it is just a matter of whether you draft them or their attorney drafts them

Send a letter giving them your/pm's contact and a detailed explanation on how to pay the rent (Helpful with older residents if you are going from check to online billing.

I typically use regional banks to fund my deals but my 2 go-to banks have either slowed or fully stopped investment loans so recently I've connected with several online brokers but all came from ads or they reached out to me vs personal recommendations and intros so I have concerns. 

Lots of material online.  

So, if you give your members a great move-in experience and they stay for a while, you'll earn more than the 12% fee structure. 

If you have an LLC, ownership percentages are recorded and thus difficult and/or costly to change if an active partner is earning equity through actions.To give some personal experience, Lending and banking can be difficult at best, impossible at worst with a Land Trust.  

I also did some investigating online and see the renter has a tendency not to hold down a job.I offered asking price (fair market) because it was the sellers bottom line and the fact there were already tenants renting.

I think you are answering your own question here - if you can't find reviews or much info online then....

Worst case if I have to leave the United States and work abroad, can I still have my house as a rental property after a 1-2 years and earn passive income from abroad even as a non-US citizen?