Imagine you think it a a good idea to get your car washed.   

I don’t know if Patrick was completely duped by Robert as well, but I do know that when I make inquiries, Patrick directs me straight to REM and doesn’t address the issues himself.Patrick seems to be a very intelligent guy and, honestly, I still occasionally listen to his educational content, but I will never invest with him again. is he licensed series 7 so he can legally take fees or was he a principal or employee so he could legally take fees ? 

You can find quality operators and leverage their expertise which allows you to be an investor in more than just multifamily - you can get into the other asset classes you mentioned - self storage, car washes and many many more!

looking back I got a decent deal but it took too long to close and I need to find a team for the long term to accumulate fourplexes or build them.I'm wondering if people involved are just washing their hands if my deal rather than grow from it.Emails from before closing were insane looking back on it. 

Interest savings in this comparison are essentially a wash, but the first position HELOC provides much more convenience, flexibility, and investing capability given that all your finances will run in and out of that HELOC and you'll have access to more funds due to the limitations of the backup funds you mentioned. 

While the cleaning owners do not like the doc in pay, they know that it would come out in the wash at some point due to lost clients over quality.

The SF protections would wash these people out.

I agree too, just use a HML or find yourself a money partner who is local as Jay mentioned.That company certainly has done a marketing job on newbies, that fee is to wash out bad deals and not burn up their time.

wash, rinse, repeat!

Think she may be washing the dogs in the new tub if you put one in.