He is the typical traditional investor, very ole' school.

That typically is investors.

The property is 1,020 sq ft home  4 bedroom, 2 bathroom, condo that was built in 1953,  with an appraisal of $91,000 (Repaired), $70,000 (As is) .The only special features the property has  is that it has a basement and private parking which is a plus because most properties in  the neighborhood do not have.

Just wondering what the typical protocol is for this situation, and how the RE agent gets paid.Flat fee?

That typically is investors.

If you have a lot of liquidity to offer, you can certainly pay cash but to your point that will inhabit the great feature of leverage.  

If you'd really rather just refi the property, your best bet is to find a traditional lender who doesn't require seasoning (which is typically 6 or 12 months) - not necessarily a hard money lender (which are often non-collateralized loans.)

I’m on the fence between buying a Class A- rental property where I’d be putting in the typical 25% cash and financing the remaining 75%, or to just purchase a Class C/C- rental property for 100% cash.

Also, I would suggest reading articles, latest news stories that feature these neighborhoods.

Sales typically allows this.