Seller financed deals would be optimal but hard to come by in my areas of investing interest. 

Check out www.11capitalfinance.com Product sheet on their web site plus 3 minute application and will have multiple loan offers in under 24hrs. 

I would do as much research on the home as possible in the county appraiser's web site to get an idea of how long ago it was sold for and if there was a mortgage recorded on it. 

I find it interesting that I've not found any reports on the web of investigations, complaints of fraud from actual NRIA.

You can do a simple web search to find brokerage firms that will hang your license for a flat fee verse a % of every sale/purchase but you won't get much assistance from them and I am not sure exactly how "legal" all that is.Other things to consider, 1) there is a fee to have access to and be able to list on the MLS, 2) I think the state requires you to carry or it would be a very good idea to carry Errors and Omissions insurance commonly called E&O insurance 3) if you plan to tour properties, you will need to get those electronic keys that agents have and I am guessing there is an annual fee associated with that.Those are the big ones I can think of off the top of my head.

I can't provide a form letter, but here's how I start these negotiations:offer slightly less than what you consider an optimal solution in terms of price, duration, rate, and down payment.

You will want a CPA to do some tax planning with you to make sure you are set up optimally for your situation from the start, and you will want to work with an attorney to talk to every contingency and have it addressed in an operating agreement. 

Bonus points for web presence. 

See below: I got this wording from the web after googling "Pennsylvania real estate license requirements".

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