If that's your situation you may want to look at a conventional loan and a great insurance policy.I can't speak much about partnerships I've not done oneDo you have a formal business plan with well defined objectives written out?

Hire an objective 3rd party to determine root cause and recommended solution and then hire contractor to perform said recommendation.

@Tim Kaminski depends on your objective and when you plan to put the money in play.

If MLS access, easy access to properties, and education is the main objective, I'd consider working with a dedicated buyer's agent who speaks your language.

It includes, among other things, a comprehensive map of the Cleveland area, grading each area from A+ down to F, using a consistent, objective and transparent methodology using publicly available data rather than a broad-brush subjective approach.

@Stephen BeckwithThere are only two reasons (in my opinion) that you should get your real estate license if your goals is to be a real estate investor.You want to become a full time real estate agent as your main income source and use those funds to acquire investment properties.You are buying such a large quantity of investment properties that your full time job becomes finding and purchasing your own properties.Getting your RE license will not give you a leg up when you are starting off... if anything it will hold you back because if you try to find an off-market deal you must disclose to them that you are also a real estate agent and you have a fiduciary responsibility to act in the best interest of the seller. 

Without goals you're just chasing the next shiny object. 

In pt.2 I will be includingA) Exactly how we found the dealB) The Appt (Objections, how we overcame objections, exact numbers/structure of the deal)C) The closing (How we found an attorney that works with deals like this)D) the Repairs (How we kept our entire budget @$30k/How we financed it)E) How we're achieving Air BNB Success on the PropertyF) How this property set us up to buy a quad (Hopefully with $0 down) Whole lots of good stuff coming up... and after typing it all out, I could see it possibly turning into a 3 part discussion post if Pt. 2 gets too long! 

Look for properties that fit your objectives/criteria yourself.

That said, your objection is mostly semantics.