My broker also has "phone duty", where you could potentially grab a leasing tenant (in hopes that they'll eventually be a buyer). 

That's really going to be a waste of your time.What I do is ask for 6 months of Bank Statements where the rent was paid so I can see if the rent was paid on time.Basically, if they can't give me proof they paid their rent on time, I go on to the next candidate.If you even get a few checks, you can see who got paid if you really want to call the current landlord.However, doing the employment, tenant credit, eviction and background checks along with having them providing Bank Statements corroborates their story of being good, prompt paying tenants.BTW, I'm a NYC Broker/Landlord.... it is REALLY important I don't put in a bad tenant.

@Tim Gathers I am a broker and licensed contractor here in Detroit dealing mainly with multifamily and 2 family flats.

But in that case I'm not quite sure what I can bring to the table that my hypothetical partner can do on his own from there.Another alternative is working with brokers, but as I am new to this, again I'm not quite sure how to go about it, who I need to help me, and what their motivation to help me would be, as it would be simpler for them to do the same thing without an additional person.I'd be happy to hear from as many people as possible.

But in that case I'm not quite sure what I can bring to the table that the hypothetical partner can't just do on his own from there.Another alternative is working with brokers, but as I am new to this, again I'm not quite sure how to go about it, who I need to help me, and what their motivation to help me would be, as it would be simpler for them to do the same thing without an additional person.I'd be happy to hear from as many people as possible.

You would need to be a broker not an agent.Also there's typically no revenue stream generated from BPO's.

I'd suggest talking to a mortgage broker. 

I've started the process of talking to brokers about getting a conventional loan(preferably FHA) to do my first flip and I'm straight up with them by telling them I attend to flip the house as soon as possible. 

They provide broker services and property management. 

I'm not an agent personally, but one of my brokers works with investors and tracks his stats and told me he won't work with out of state guys any more.