I don't believe the agent is required to get a written rejection (I could be wrong, don't really know), but that should send the message that you're not going to give up without some indication that the offer was at least presented.Also, I would make sure that you address the issue of the agent's commission.

The plan funds the transaction, the property is properly titled and John earns a standard commission which he puts in his "personal" RE business.

Beyond that, the originator is usually only going to get half of the commission as well.

I have no debt outside of student loans but make a putrid $24k/yr (base + commission so it will likely end up being around $30k-$35k)) right now.

Then you should check with your broker about how the commissions are to be distributed - it is the broker who gets paid, and then you get paid by the broker you work for.

A great and lazy bunch of them seem to think they can put a few ads online and on paper, get their names and reputations out and about at the sellers expense, and then just sit there and wait for the phone to ring and the commissions to come in.

The listing agent and the buyer's agent would then split the commission.

Call me cynical, but I see them prosecuting a bunch of financial lightweights & ignoring the big fish who really did the damage.That said, I was happy to see a $500k IRS Lein filed against the original purchaser of my house - at least he's out of commission for a few years!

Because he was commissioned by the city he can't share the report with me.

I can't speak to the investor issue but I can tell you that I got my broker license years back for one simple reason...I HATE splitting commissions.