All the transacting of the money is done by lawyers or title agents because documents need to be filed and recorded and made official. 

In 2023, I did 18 transactions(Top 500 of ~15,000 agents), and manage 13 rental properties for other individuals.As an Individual, I also own 5 additional rental properties that I also self manage.The reason I would like REPS is because Ive got about 200k in passive losses(100k just in 2023 as I fully remodeled one of the rentals and partial reno of another) I would like to apply towards our household W2 income(600k) Overall, I feel like I could definitely qualify but I definitely lack detailed time log of all activities.

Seems pretty safe compared to other investments.Details: They are considered safer, but typically offer lower returns compared to stocks and real estate.

If the two of you were simply individuals owning the property as tenants in common and neither of you owned more than 50% of the entity then you could make the case that it was not a related party transaction.My fear is that if audited the exchange would fail due to the closeness of the related transaction. 

I'm sure he's good-been working with him for a while...but I want to handle all leasing/mgmt transactions.

The sales process can also be very drawn out and tiring for themAnd for the sellers, and so they will present those offers from teams or investors they are sure can transact and try to filter out tire kickers.

Occupancy lower than that, means you are not doing a good job of keeping units rented.

Due to less competiton and less transparency, are commission rates higher, lower or the same in commercial? 

For example, if they really want $500k for a property, offer a purchase price of $500k but a lower down payment and interest rate (and a longer-term).

Then last option would be a "unsecured" personal loan where the bank offers up to $50K for example to pay off and consolidate debts.The 2nd and the personal loan will pay off debts and lower DTI and you might have enough left over for down payment or just use VA again.