Why are you interested in this business?

., They will be instrumental to your business. 

Quote from @Gregory Wilson: A few things there, Brendan.First, an LLC with you as a member and your (wife, son, pal, etc.) partner as a 1% member will file a Form 1065 which is about one tenth as likely to be audited by the IRS as a Form 1040 with a Schedule E rental activity (which I presume you will attempt to show is an active business).Second, you want an LLC because when your local Alabama handyman drives his girlfriend's uninsured truck into a van load of U of A medical school interns on I-22 when he goes  to get some shingles for your roof, on your business, you don't lose everything you have or ever will have to an uninsured claim. 

To make taxes easier we set up a business checking account and had all the rent paid into that account and all the expenses paid out of that account.

I don't Atlanta is too landlord friendly and the demographics shift it harder to do business everyday.  

Years in business?

This approach mitigates risk while leveraging your resources effectively.Looks like your household could qualify as REPS and really offset your taxes if your portfolio is optimized.

Even as a broker there are many sleazy Account Executives that try to win my business with terms or extra compensation.

With 25 years under my belt in construction and corporate environments, this is not the way you do business.

It's always important to screen anyone you are doing business with.