If I'm buying from a stranger, I will definitely go through a title company.

There's more to look at with your post. 1) Your tolerance for frustration (I'm no stranger to that, either). 2) The art and science of direct response marketing. 

To me it’s an incredibly large burden to bear to take other people’s money (whether it be friends, family, or strangers, or even the bank’s for that matter) and have them trust me with it.

If friends and family don’t want to invest...well...good luck with strangers.

Five total strangers with different backgrounds living in a house together .  

So since they know I'll run off anyone they send out, they put a misrepresentative sleazy auction on Hubzu, so I could have come home to strangers living in my yard, thinking the 5 acres they "bought" is my yard instead of the adjacent woods, that the house was supposed to have been built on. 

It would be a good idea to find an agent that you know, since a stranger isn't going to be super excited about giving you a list of houses that won't make them any money.

The PMC will be stuck getting pressure from the seller to cooperate with the listing agent, pressure from the listing agent to push the tenants into allowing showings all the time, and pressure from the tenants who don't want strangers walking through their home all the time!

But many of the uninsured are doing it themselves with the help of friends, neighbors, and complete strangers.

Feels good to know that a stranger from Arizona with an awesome hat reached out to me so quickly to offer some solid advice.