I would argue his advice has hurt virtually nobody, but how many people ended up in financial ruin after seeking a get rich quick scheme? 

If you aren't paying anything to a buyer's agent, they aren't going to show their clients your home at all, so in the grand scheme of things, 5 1/2% is not super high. 

Here's what to knowhttps://www.msn.com/en-us/news...The Maricopa County Recorder's Office is launching a new alert system to fight a rising number of fraud schemes in which homes are sold out from under property owners, officials said.And last year, the Arizona Attorney General's Office issued a warning to homeowners after investigators noticed "a disturbing trend" of dozens of complaints of title theft from across the state.To sign up, homeowners must create an account on the Maricopa County Recorder's Office website with a valid email address.

BUT there’s a lot of dumb kids trying get rich schemes and have no business trying to arbitrage.  

This isn't a get rich quick scheme that people are hoping for.Run the numbers, be conservative, and it generally works out.

I'd also wonder if the realtor showed up with some random person from their office who looked like you (eg similar build and hair colour) would they say anything?

And make sure the EMD is enough to make it hurt if he fails to perform.My bet is that when faced with someone who is on to his scheme and not willing to get hosed, he'll bail out.The very best move is to get with a strong Realtor in your area. 

Paying for wholesaling coaching or mentoring is just ripping money up and telling everyone you like to be involved in pyramid schemes.

In the good old days, I have to sell my kidney to get a loan (just kidding, but in very very old traditional scheme, one need to have usury loan with 20% daily interest rate).

The one thing I am worried about regarding flood insurance is that I heard there was a national government scheme which subsidized flood insurance so that it was not prohibitively expensive.