:lol: Kathy, just as your comment was in joking fashion, so was mine.

At face value, they seems to be handling it in an acceptable fashion, but thier are not enough details. 

I wonder if they are good at placing and screen tenants on a timely fashion. 

We do a testing phase on many of our homes to wholetail it in a similar fashion.  

I was initially going to go about it the old fashion way, by just saving my own money to buy one at a time(duplex/triplex) until I amassed enough of a profit from my multi homes to go bigger. 

If I determine the seller cannot be trusted to tell the truth in any fashion whatsoever, I would have absolutely no faith in disclosures and the like. 

(Fake repairs or inflated repair costs, not filling your vacancies in a timely fashion, not actively managing your vacant property leaving you susceptible for break -ins.)

I personally am at a flat fee brokerage but splits may be worth it to you if you find value in the benefits/support you get by paying more to the brokerage.Feel free to hit me up anytime on here or by text, email, or a good ol’ fashioned phone call 😀

Is the old fashioned way still a reasonable route?

Might be risky for your first joint venture...As for help with bank related questions...how about we do a good ole' fashion trade off-- I'll PM you one of my buddies' numbers who has a ton of experience with refinancing and dealing with banks.