Admittedly, they seem a bit sketchy,My question would be, for a person such as my self, how does one go about vetting these syndicates?  

Explore my personal favorites, Set For Life by Scott Trench or The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, for invaluable financial insights.3.

You can try recruiting on LinkedIn, and you might come across the right person.

you can get financing witha  LLC but the lender will require a personal guarantee on the loan.

Management fees are steep, you're competing w/ bigger operators as well as mom & pop places - it's hard to get the personalized care needed, in my opinion, to be successful. 

The setup felt like a personal connection all in pursuit of getting your business.  90% of it was done by AI and the other 10% came when a live rep was available.

You should make one trip to the area for 3 days and network in person.

I work with a lot of MTR investors and what I am seeing frequently with multifamily acquisitions, particularly with new investors, is that they often test the property just like you're mentioning, as a way to dip their toes in the water and see what works in their area and for their personal style.

My personal experience after 40 + years in the real estate industry is that “wholesaling” is a very INEFFICIENT AND INEFFECTIVE way to gain knowledge and experience relative to real estate.

Like Jonathan said, in-person meetings with other investors is the best place.