Despite the house being operated for years by the prior owner as a STR. 

I operate across the mid-south/mid-west.

Some have pointed out the fallacy that to be licensed in some way is different upon the operation. 

There is a house near mine that is abandoned.

However, he asked me to sign a one-year Exclusive Right to Represent agreement, as presented to him by his brokerage.His interpretation is that it applies only when he materially assists me, but I think the boilerplate brokerage language he was given reads much more broadly:"If during the term of this Agreement Buyer enters into a contract for the purchase of Property through the services or efforts of the Broker or Buyer’s Brokerage Firm, or by or through any other persons during the term of this Agreement" (emphasis mine).My concern is that, under my interpretation, if a fellow real estate investor wants to unload a property or if I get pointed to an opportunity by a former agent, colleague, or friend, this agreement could create an obstacle to moving forward with the deal.In the end, I didn’t sign.

Now I just keep making assorted free accounts and adjust this messaging with little tweaks here n there, to "Information/Idea Mine" from all these people. 

I would also urge you to make sure you fully understand how they operate , A-Z (from how they make their profit to how many doors they are managing). 

They'll probably also want to be sure that you are competent to operate the property afterward, because their reputation is tied up in who they do business with, and it's bad for everyone if the property becomes devalued.

None were a match for me personally and many were not a strategy I wanted or too speculative (such as opportunistic strategy which is the riskiest strategy or investing in tertiary markets which also tend to be the first to go belly up when there is trouble etc).You probably actually want to look at your operating agreement to see what rights you have to books and records, etc. 

I appealed mine once and appeared before the board and lost unanimously.