•One-year rental restrictions aren’t necessarily a dealbreaker if you can afford to cover association fees for that time or live in the unit while making upgrades.2.

You have to pay fees, but you'll have a professional handling issues instead of bleeding money trying to figure it out for yourself, then you have your time free to pursue other things.

I think they're probably paid part of the signup fee.

The northland MAREI meeting and the main monthly meeting at MAREI have a minimal fee, or for $99 a year you can attend all of them for no extra charge - northland is in person, the main meeting is still online, both are great ways to connect and learn. 

I’m not sure who paid legal fees but they must have been significant. 

Quote from @Jeff Sanders: Personally coming from an agent/investor in CA, I always get a quote from a broker of mine and make sure I am knowledgeable with the fees/costs.

This may not seem important now but I’ve had two partnerships turn sour and if we’d have had an exit strategy on either it would have saved tens of thousands of dollars on legal fees and court costs.

You'll want to look at their reviews, how they safeguard your funds, understand what their fees are, and how responsive they will be to your questions (do they work 9-5 only). 

are they asking for up front fees? 

It is a fairly signinificant set up fee and monthly charge.