What there may be is a situation whereby no close relatives step forward to spend the money and take responsibility to open probate and become appointed as PR.This may be the case if there is no equity worth chasing, especially since it's going to cost X to complete probate, not counting curing the defaulted mortgage arrearages. 

I'll send him listing leads for both retail and short sale, and he'll send me comps to support appointments!

I've called 12 companies, of which 7 never returned my call, 4 made an appointment for a bid but never showed up (including one company that outright lied to my face that they were there at the same time I was), and the 1 who showed up but bid twice my budget.

I would like to set an appointment and actually sit down with someone and discuss the different hidden costs that I wouldn't be aware of from afar. 

Unfortunately, questions started to lead the presenter down a different path, and I had to leave the seminar to get to an appointment.  

Once they call, you should get their email address and any and all details about their property and finally ask for an appointment.  

For the discounted broker commission, you would need to have pictures taken of your property, handle all showings and scheduling appointments with prospective buyers (in my experience, when sellers try to do this themselves it always turns off buyers), negotiate the offers and work with the lenders and attorneys to get you to the closing table. 

Given the confused looks on their faces while reading through the document, I mention to them that “i’m totally comfortable if we need to set up an appointment with the appropriate person, if they aren’t available at the moment.”They mentioned that they would speak with their manager, call corporate and get more info.

They were listed on the MLS, I made an appointment with my agent to view them within 1 week.

In the old days, the agent had investment and residential banking contacts and actually made an appointment with a qualified lender and introduced you.They actually knew who was investor friendly and smart enough to work the deal.These days, it's buyer to verity square footage and you are on your own with hunting down the best bank in town.