I once gave my card to an agent representing the other side of the transaction, and he was surprised at why I didn't have a logo of a house or property.

I'm looking to do my first real estate transaction very soon.

Shows you schools, etcThe issue I find with Zillow is that buyers and sellers get so HOOKED on the zestimate that it makes transactions a little harder. 

I transacted quite a bit with SMR the first few years and greatly appreciated Victoria's integrity and honor.

Consideration must be exchanged for a transaction to even be legal.I'm not a fan of land contracts because you don't own it until you pay it off, but some kind of mortgage/deed of trust via seller financing would be my go-to here @Daniel H TruexBe patient with the refi part.  12 months is nothing in RE horizons. 

@Charlie MacPherson Yes all the things you mentioned apply to this transaction. 

With one property you should have  well under 30 transactions a year

Setting aside any personal biases towards the product the only people who negatively impacted by the industry (from a RE perspective) are traditional tenants competing for industrial space who are repeatedly priced out of space.

And for better or worse, most settlement agents make their money dealing with "cookie-cutter" SFR transactions.

Again, if we are only considering the affect on credit scores, and with all the caveats about speaking to the experts in your specific area:  If your business is new, it may be beneficial to go that route and establish a business credit profile for future business transactions.