Chris, when you say 95% of brokers are eliminated for not being able to provide successful transaction references, are you referring to actual mortgage brokers, or are you referring to the people that attend a “cash flow” seminar and believe  the easy money hype? 

This means an LLC with an operating agreement specifying the IRS regulations regarding prohibited transactions, disqualified individuals, and others.

We want to do this transaction so we can upgrade our living space, have another rental (our existing house), and eventually rent out the new house (his house) after we grow out of it.

edit to add: I just saw their page says they're also hiring for admin assistant, transaction coordinator, and wholesale acquisition trainee - wonder if those would still get me good experience and lessons without all the fees

thanks for your time and help rent to retirement works directly with build to rent developers like us around the country once they are framed up. you are buying properties pretty much at market value but with a hand holding. you can work directly with a builder or directly with them. they are just an intermediary. they take 5% on what we make as a builder but have a large list of investors and a systemized approach to selling new builds. if you want to get a better deal I'd recommend directly contacting builders and building it yourself. fly to the market. spend 2 days, tour new builds, get a feeling for how it's going. if your builder isn't building multiple at a time then I wouldn't recommend working with them. rent to retirement is a well oiled and well run machine. they've had their ups and downs with dozens of transactions in florida but modified their process. they are well known and established and transparent. if you have a more specific market and feel confident in your ability to vet deals try it out. happy to talk more my info is in my signature. we work directly with them to sell new builds and no organization is perfect but I have good things to say about them as a builder and potential build to rent developer that sells build to rent triplexes and single family homes through them to end buyers in California like the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and San Diego 

It’s not an arms length transaction if your wife owns the selling trust that’s buying her parent’s property for less than market value.

And rarely will you net as much or more from an investor than you would from  listing with an agent.Interveiw agents commissins are negotiable so negotiate those.. and these are very simple transactions so any competent attorney can reveiw the contract etc..

This is a good place to start.1) Education: be the most knowledgeable agent in your area and start to host meet ups or something that can establish credibility.  2) I would find a low transaction/fee-based brokerage like EXP or a brokerage that does not charge a heavy annual fee. 

So its up to the buyers agent to justify their worth in the transaction.  

You are dealing with a real estate transaction and there is a lot of liability and exposure, especially for the inexperienced.