I'm certainly not opposed to committing to an agent; I just want to put myself in a position to work with a reputable agent willing to facilitate my learning process along the way. 

But before investing in that area,  I would recommend reading long-distance real estate investingBy: David Greene  and listening to this podcast to get familiar with the systems and strategies that exist to facilitate the process.  

@George BlowerDo you know a broker that can facilitate such plan?

There are all kinds of ways you could buy or control these gems, different techniques could be applied to facilitate transactions, but unless you understand the product you'll fail at being a successful dealer because you won't understand why they are valuable or why there is a demand or why the market acts as it does. 

You might want a facilitator to create an LLC if you'd like checkbook control of the IRA funds.

I have spoken to them twice myself and then hired a facilitator who has drawn up some options.  

Then at that point, you can take your returns from your INCOME property to help facilitate larger student loan debt payments if need be.

They can facilitate deals. 

In Las Vegas there was a company called Southwest Exchange that was a facilitator of 1031 exchanges.

depends on the small bank...my preapproval letter states, "to facilitate this transcation, no apprasial or inspection will be required."