You need to start cultivating relationships with those providers now so when you're ready to strike you've already familiarized yourself with who you want to work with, the market you want to be in, and the probable look of the properties you'll be buying.  

That said, a credit score of 690 doesn't strike me as a terrible score.

On the previous deal, the wholesaler was planning to flip the property but their funding fell through so they wholesaled it to me, and i was fortunate enough to meet the seller at closing and strike up conversation and exchange information.

Typically a kick-out is for a contingency where the buyer (me) has to sell another property before the purchase can be made.This strikes me as odd, no?  

Looking at this from the exit point, when we sell the house, is it generally a strike against you if you are selling a property with more rooms than the average house in the neighborhood has?

"I know the listing agent and have worked with them in the past, they are fair and I am not worried about being able to strike an agreement that will make everyone happy"There is nothing wrong with wanting your own representation and not wanting to share it.

Obviously we can't have insurance and taxes in our name anyway but fuel strikes me as something a REM firm would handle as a "day to day" -- any thoughts on that?

It will likely end up like most things: absolutely horrible in the beginning (bad offers, slow responses, "boycott Zillow" rallying cries) and slowly get better over time.It doesn't strike me as concerning if I'm in the shoes of a realtor.  

If you do strike a deal with the owner you WILL have to pay the realtor , typically 1st month rent.

First time at bat did you take a mighty swing and knock the ball out of the park or strike out?