Then you can at least see if there is any major variance in pricing.

Dan your market/assets/tenants are on a totally different level than a good majority of the rest of the country. 

However, after you get some experience, you probably want to get a Private Lender since this will allow you to keep the majority of the profits.

It’s less than 15 minutes by car from two major universities (Towson & Morgan) and just a 7-minute walk from a shuttle that services both campuses.I plan to rent the property by the room, targeting mainly college students due to its proximity to the schools.

However, it is an old home and you are thinking about major cosmetic upgrades too.    

I’m just not sure why you would give your perspective or advice about partnerships to people who do work with partnersThe majority of deals that I do and have done have been with partners.

Our first accepted offer was a 320 unit deal that we contracted, put up non-refundable (yeah, I know) earnest money, and thought we had our financing and money in place to do the deal.  2 weeks before closing a major (several million) partner pulled out leaving us short of the funds needed to close. 

But enough to make to do all the cosmetics along with a few major items like HVAC, appliances, etc.

But I believe for the majority of mom and pop landlords, it's not worth offering a concession.

Since you just starting to rent it out I would include the down payment and any major repairs you have done.