I’m not sure why traditional agents offer any special litigation protection.2.

Take your time and find one that you like and has good protection.

He is well protected I'm sure.

What's my best strategy here to protect myself and to assist with this connection?

Pay special attention to #4 and #5.An LLC is useful for two things: anonymity and legal protection.

This was done to protect senior citizens on fixed incomes from being forced to sell their homes due to unaffordable property tax increases.Since the passing of this amendment, all properties in Michigan have two property tax values associated with them:State Equalized Value (SEV): supposedly equal to 50% of the market value of a property, not based on recent sales price.Taxable Value: the SEV annually capped as long as there is not a transfer of ownership.City Assessors are charged with determining how much property values have changed each year.

If you want 100% of your investments in public equity, that is fine and you will reap those rewards or suffer those losses.  

Alternatives to ConsiderIf you want to involve an entity for liability protection or other reasons, here are some potential approaches:Assume in Personal Name and Transfer to Entity:Assume the loan in your personal name and later transfer the property title to an entity.Important: Transferring title may violate the loan’s due-on-sale clause unless explicitly allowed by the lender.

We have a 14-page management contract that we've added our real experiences to over the years, with the intent of protecting both us AND the landlord.

Protecting yourself from any future issues will require a good understanding of the situation your house is in when you buy it.Tl;dr: crime here is relatively low, declining population numbers don't take students into account, properties are cheap, rents are high BUT be careful where you buy.This concludes my TED Talk, ha!