The property prices are all over the place, so it's hard to gauge price of ONE property with any accuracy. 

I want to gauge the initial response rates for the the campaign I am designing.Any help from those doing it would be greatly appreciated.Cas

I'll pay crap to a guy who doesn't know much, but true pros make great money.My suggestion is to hire through a trusted referral or to start them off on a limited scope project that's somewhat difficult (in order to gauge their talent) before taking a bid on a more substantial project. 

I try to gauge how they respond to the questions. if they are more standoffish I keep yes and no questions going until they get annoyed and thank them for their time.

2% rule was good for during the last few years, their is continuous downward pressure on the margin?

I wanted to see if I could get a gauge on why the seller was selling, what kind of landlord they had been, the neighborhood, what problems there have been with the property...  

I would not personally look to buy anything on Market place simple reason is distressed sellers are not on the market place. hell they don't even know BP exists.you have wholesalers that want to make middle man fee's and this is a cheap way for them to advertise once you respond to many you will find them to be all over the board in value proposition and experience. one quick way to look at buy and hold with no sales pressure like you just got above.. is to go to Brie's turnkey reviews website and check out the stock that is available in other markets. 

My guy will actually approach the owner to gauge interest for me.

I've been told commercial brokerages are cut throat and all about pressure to meet their numbers.

If you are the buyer, your agent should put pressure on them to drop the selling price, but if you are rhe buyer with no agent, they likely won't cave to your pressure to do so.