I'm fairly green when it comes to the topic of real estate investing; I have never purchased a property but have a plan to do so within 2018. 

I think it's fair to say that conventional loans are always cheaper in the long run but on the flip side if you can save 5-10% down payment you could buy more properties and increase your cash flow quicker. 

I would recommend my main PM because he checks a few key boxes: 1) no time commitment (i.e. he doesn't try to lock you in for a year), 2) uses PM software so you have some visibility into what's going on, and 3) has had strong and frequent communication.

A lot of REI are fairly high income successful salespersons, lawyers, doctors, etc, or are just very frugal relative to their income level.

Of course this must be done within the framework of the laws, but I believe you get to decide what you think is a fair split, and then offer that to the investors that are interested. 

They have also hired some new experienced personnel that should help alleviate the communications issues we were having, but we won't know for sure for several months. 

The one on the right behind the sink would be my choice but all of them are tasteful and fairly neutral so I don't think you can go wrong

Start with the best one at a fair deal and work your way through the lot over a couple of years.

If you can see yourself adding value or forcing appreciation than I would find a way to communicate that to him to put his mind at ease on the potential depreciation.

Can anyone point me towards a hard money lender that will deal fairly with a first time investment buyer?