My lease agreements include how often grass needs cut, tenants paying for their own lightbulbs.

(My company has it’s general liability insurance, of course.)So, this is a temporary arrangement, at least for now.He will charge a fee to pull permits and to do periodic inspections to make sure my subcontractors are doing quality work but I will be project managing the entire job and handling all components of the renovation from design, floor plans, estimating, purchasing, hiring and overseeing the subcontractors, etc.The general contractor and I are regrouping next week to discuss what he would like to charge and I just want to get some feedback from you experts before we meet.

There's typically a time limit to how long that lasts, but the fact is this agent helped you and is considered the "procuring cause" of the deal, so you should honor that and ensure they are paid.It was unethical of you to approach the buyer and try to cut out the agent, and it is definitely unethical of the seller, which makes me question whether the seller is someone you want to deal with. 

But "it didn't redeem and he got tired of paying the tax bill and cutting the grass so he let it go". 

Sellers won't list because they have 3% mortgages and won't want to trade those, or won't be willing to have to absorb price cuts so they'll be knocked out.

A major component of my skillset has always been grit and being able to outwork others, which I don't think my current position is able to fully utilize.

I'll try to respond to each component of your comment:- My idea of using an equity partnership as described above is coming from Brandon Turner's book "Investing in Real Estate With No (and Low) Money Down," and in the chapter on partnerships he goes through various why someone with cash may want to engage in a partnership.

You mentioned you still made a hefty profit from 14 deals but the CI Lending component is the BS right?

You cannot cut locks, you cannot take possession, you cannot set foot on the property, you cannot make any improvements.

The nun's explained that they proposed the advance payment to cut down on the work of their AP department, simplify their finances, as they would be renting a number of rentals, and having the AP department prepare checks monthly would overwhelm them.