We saved money by sharing with roommates, that is how we got the pot of money to buy our first house. 

As you do more deals and build more online relationships, you'll have a "deeper bench" of potential investors. 

They will still leave  a little meat on the bone to sweeten the pot for the holding investor.Lot's of money now chasing what little value add is left for multifamily.

This sounds like a wholesaler without a pot to piss in trying to avoid putting any of their non existent cash into a deal.Peaking quickly at your profile it says you are looking to build a portfolio though.

If they had a crock pot explode, probably not.

Pot holes are ok...hoping to avoid the sinkholes!

Owners spruce up their units and then, when they sell, the furniture, pots, pans, silverware, etc comes with the sale.

The Hold Harmless won't do you much good if your seller takes bankruptcy or doesn't have a pot to spit in or a window to throw it out of.It might be better to buy into the existing LLC, divide the property under that Operating Agreement and take care of the transaction inside the LLC.

If its MLS I see no escaping paying whoever else has their hand in the pot (listing, your broker etc..)

You will find some very interesting articles in the learn section that should help you avoid some of the pot holes.