I'm currently renovating my rear unit and it has the perfect layout to split into 2 units by adding a wall and an additional front door.

tried real estate investing many years ago, before the internet era.

They should be able to teach you about asset risk, neighborhood risk, lay out A, B, C and D class areas, have stats on delinquency trends, vacancy trends, and other variable cost projections. 

It seems to me that they all whether paid of free, will all have the same exact amount of houses because all the transactions are all public and so they seem to compete with each other based on the quality of the data of the houses, how up to date it is, and the user experience in configuring the how the layout is.

Most lenders won't require an application fee and should be able to clearly lay out their financing costs, cash to close, and projected profitability for you.I hope this helps.

They can't assess all the subjective data like overall layout, view from the living room window, the dogs next door that bark all day, the width of doorways, size of individual rooms, quality of kitchen cabinets and appliances, etc.The best thing to do is study your market regularly.

I try sending a video or doing a live video walk-through with them so they can get a better idea of the layout, condition, neighborhood, etc.2.

Compare apples to apples(SQ FT, bed/bath, layout, etc). 

Similarly, homes that have unusual layouts or less traditional features often benefit from full staging, as it helps buyers envision how the space can work for them.That said, even in more budget-conscious markets, full-service staging can still provide a significant return on investment, especially if the home has been on the market for a while or if it's empty and lacks warmth.

I'd love to see what the layout on the rooms looks like.