im looking for a few starter tips on researching MLS as well as procuring the deal and finance. i would like a friend..:)

Time spent procuring new investments, chasing contractors around, negotiating exits, dealing with tenant workouts, etc. all counts.  

NoOhio Revised Code4735.01 Real estate broker definitions.As used in this chapter:(A) "Real estate broker" includes any person, partnership, association, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or corporation, foreign or domestic, who for another, whether pursuant to a power of attorney or otherwise, and who for a fee, commission, or other valuable consideration, or with the intention, or in the expectation, or upon the promise of receiving or collecting a fee, commission, or other valuable consideration does any of the following:(1) Sells, exchanges, purchases, rents, or leases, or negotiates the sale, exchange, purchase, rental, or leasing of any real estate;(2) Offers, attempts, or agrees to negotiate the sale, exchange, purchase, rental, or leasing of any real estate;(3) Lists, or offers, attempts, or agrees to list, or auctions, or offers, attempts, or agrees to auction, any real estate;(4) Buys or offers to buy, sells or offers to sell, or otherwise deals in options on real estate;(5) Operates, manages, or rents, or offers or attempts to operate, manage, or rent, other than as custodian, caretaker, or janitor, any building or portions of buildings to the public as tenants;(6) Advertises or holds self out as engaged in the business of selling, exchanging, purchasing, renting, or leasing real estate;(7) Directs or assists in the procuring of prospects or the negotiation of any transaction, other than mortgage financing, which does or is calculated to result in the sale, exchange, leasing, or renting of any real estate;(8) Is engaged in the business of charging an advance fee or contracting for collection of a fee in connection with any contract whereby the broker undertakes primarily to promote the sale, exchange, purchase, rental, or leasing of real estate through its listing in a publication issued primarily for such purpose, or for referral of information concerning such real estate to brokers, or both, except that this division does not apply to a publisher of listings or compilations of sales of real estate by their owners;(9) Collects rental information for purposes of referring prospective tenants to rental units or locations of such units and charges the prospective tenants a fee.

It is possible that your sponsoring broker could already have an agreement with certain pm's.If an agent is the procures a qualified tenant that ultimately signs a lease, we split the tenant placement fee.  

The most recent property we bought was through a second wholesaler who had a bigger network of investors than the one that actually procured the property.  

Look up "procuring cause" or how you found the seller.PM me if I can assist you in a lease option assignment, where you enter into a lease and option, and sell your interests for a fee of 3% of FMV or more.

I bought a 4 unit property on my name by taking a personal loan, wrote leases on my name and also procured insurance for the property on my name too.If I now have to transfer to an LLC, what is the process involved? 

A main question in this kind of situation is who brought the buyer.For example, if it could be shown that the buyer came to the seller because of the marketing efforts of the listing agent, that would likely have an effect on whether or not the listing agent was due all or part of a commission.In this case the buyer is the tenant and therefore wasn't brought to the transaction via the listing agent (unless the listing agent procured them as a tenant in the first place, in which case I don't know if that would count), and the listing agent apparently hasn't spent any money on the listing yet.

The vast majority of the time, vetting protocols such as background and credit checks work for procuring reliable tenants.

In those conditions, you would look back and wish you had procured a 10 year balloon instead of 5.