Treat people well, be strict about receiving rents and don't delay evictions.

But it is surprising to me that the syndicator is treating you as poorly as you have described. 

DO NOT TREAT THIS AS A HOBBY. 

IMO I thing as long as you treat it as a business you will be fine. 

I think a great thing to do is to partner with your friend ( make sure to treat it like a business and have proper documentation/ written agreements) and see how it goes for the first year.

From all my court appearances, I noticed that foreign landlords were treated much more leniently, especially if they pretended they could not speak english.

I know there are some national mortgage lenders that do hard money loans, but they treat it more like a "production line."

As long as you always add value and treat people with respect.

I've heard if they're under 5 units they treat them as single family. 

Sure, you can and should ask them questions regarding specific services they offer, but don't treat this like you're already a highly successful entrepreneur and they should be rushing to you with resume's and begging for a chance to work in your business.