I had a similar mindset and started...in the sense I bought house hacks in areas whereI wanted to live and worried a little less about the dollars and sense and just made sure it worked for me!

The fees they tack on AFTER you invest hindreds of thousands of dollars is just nuts!

Often times this commission is a percentage, but if the value of the property is LOW, the commission could be a fixed dollar amount.

Our dollar is losing value so you need to be with a solid operator in institutional assets that cashflow in markets while hedging inflation with tax benefits. 

The buyer comp agreement has to be a specific dollar amount or percentage. 

If you don't know what you're doing, 40-60% lump sum initially, 15-20% tranches in dollar cost averaging is best. 

For a large landlord, they can charge top dollar rent and evict quickly without caring about what's going on with tenants. 

They raise X amount of dollars and then hit a wall, because they are not prepared.

I'm of the idea though that now is a great time for Americans investing internationally (because of our inflated US dollar).I know I'll be giving $10K to FIRB.  

@Chris Kay to learn to properly DIY manage you have two basic options:1) Trial & fire on your own, hopefully not making a major mistake that costs you tens of thousands of dollars.- Once your time is more impotant to you then the cost of a PMC, you can hire one.2) Hire a PMC to guide you on your first rental and learn from their expertise.- You can buy additional properties and DIY manage those, perhaps leaning on the PMC for any issues you're not sure how to handle on your own.Good luck:)