Unless these agents are sourcing different off-market opportunities for you.

They don't have an incentive or fee to enable them to blow me off, do unnecessary work, or otherwise nickel and dime me or the tenant. 

If the property is subdivided off of the parent lot, a change in condition will have occurred with a public need to change the zoning to match the rest of Apple Street.

This takes the pressure off.

I have around 70k to get started with and a government pension to live off. 

This is one of the more hands-off solutions I've seen owners implement and would love to see it available to smaller operators. 

Am I off base in that assumption?)

I would like to offer without an agent on some deals I have found on my own both on Realtor.com and off market facebook groups  1) am I insane to try purchasing my first property without an agent?

I listed the unit myself on Facebook and my university's off-campus housing site and received many inquiries.

The key is knowing how accurate they are versus how far off they are.