However, their 38 page Prop Mgmt Agreement for OneRate is daunting--it lists many exclusions to their obligations such as any damage caused by force to a surface (whether from tenants, animals, roots, wind or other force of nature, etc).

You would then be forced to use the key.

Not a lot of traffic, most have an agent, and even if I force everyone to sign in, they often give school emails or bogus numbers. 2.

I would then plan to use this forced equity (since I plan to buy a fixer upper) to invest in another home.I have been constantly reading to househack right into the MFH, but this may take some time for me to acquire the money and purchasing power.

If you're earning, they might show they care a little, but they're more focused on the next batch of agents to recruit.Mom & pop experience: the broker barely answered my calls but when she did, I had already found the answer myself OR she was able to share something I couldn't find on my own - experience.This helped me become very resourceful as it forced me to figure things out in case she couldn't get back to me in a timely manner.Big box experience: I went to KW and found the best 'community' feel/vibe you could ask for in the business.

All you said is true, but, this "hard market" and in some ways it is really hard, lends some opportunity that is of equal force. 

The reason I made the move to invest outside of my town was because it would force me to treat it like a business and find a proper PM instead of dealing with handymen and call outs etc.

Forced sale rights in the event of pending lender foreclosure4.

There is a home in Tampa I went UC with a wholesaler and told him I was closing it conventionally which they were fine with.Long story short the home is a triplex and zoned as a SFH so the lender will not lend on the property forcing me not to close and the wholesaler took my EM.

Typically the big ways you make money through real estate investing are passive appreciation, forced appreciation via reno, and cash flow.Of those 3 money-making facets of real estate, only forced appreciation via reno occurs quickly.