With house hacking, I feel like you only need a few properties to be able to build cash flow and set yourself up for retirement.

I believe there is a call coming up soon to talk about financing options.

You can also tell the agent to write into the contract that you will pay him 2-3% of the sales price, upon a successful closing. 

somehow this almost never works out; eventually the property sells for something close to land value.  

I will then keep up the process to pay off a recently acquired duplex with about $72,000 in debt.  

This will also free up cash with less of a tax burden.

We are go-getters who are looking to scale up fast, but we also realize that we need to do it right.

The biggest ways IMO are MLS data, multiple solutions for sellers (off market cash deal or listing), ability to rep. yourself on your own deals (saving on commission).Commission savings adds up fast when you're doing multiple deals a year.That being said, there is cost to having a license so if you're only doing a couple deals a year then it might not make as much sense.

Obviously, rents are very cheap there, but it seems I can find MLS listings that match or come close to the 2% rule.

My business partner is getting a divorce and rather than split things up we have decided to liquidate soon.