Their answer was they would back it up in court, ON THEIR DIME OR MINE?

@Joshua D.I wouldn’t give him another dime

Do not pay a dime for anything other than MLS.Your connection to the FD will be helpful just be sure there isn't any conflict of interest.

I was nickel and dimeing little tracts, when it caught my brothers attention. 

You'll need money to get started, but also some buffer money in case things go wrong - it's never a good idea to drop your last dime on a deal without having a safety net.

If you have under 5 units, you should be able to manage them on their own.The maintenance/maintenace calls can get very expensive to have a management company do because they can nickel and dime you. 

Real Estate is Cool again, like in the early to mid 2000's so everyone is trying to "get in" and everyone with no money is trying to wholesale, when they should get Licensed and sell houses, instead of trying to scam people out of their equity (Im talking about many, not all wholesalers) If you get licensed and do the marketing a wholesaler does, you can still flip the contract, or if the numbers dont work you can list the home and still get a commission, and along the way you will learn valuation, repair costs and watch deals through other investors (definitely work with investors)  on their dime, see what they do right, and wrong along the way, build  banking, title company, and other industry relationships.

Then I fix them up and rent them out so I pick up the quick nickle (forced appreciation), the slow dime (cash flow), and the even slower dollar (appreciation) all along the way.

As someone already stated, the STR game can be interesting as cities can change laws on the turn of a dime.

Some will nickel and dime you on all the closing costs including the appraisal.