-The moral issue you could run into is if your agent brought you the deal and you cut them out to submit an offer directly to the listing agent then you burn a bridge to save a couple grand-Too often people focus on the small commission paid to the realtor as an opportunity to cut costs when in reality the long term relationship with a good agent will bring you far more value.

Meet several brokers and Agents and let them know what you are looking for and build y'alls relationship. 

Yes but you should establish relationship ahead of time and make sure you have a place for the refi.

As such, whether real estate may or may not be more efficient with after tax money that you noted you do not have, is not really relevant.Real estate can be an excellent retirement asset. 

If you invest in what you know well, both value or cash flow plays can be profitable strategies (regardless of what one-size-fits-all investors will tell you on BP).Excellent point about how cash flow and appreciation hinge on one's circle of competency. 

Looking forward to meeting like minded people around the AZ towns for educational and business relationships.

To sum it up, it’s all about the relationship, and two key components to a successful relationship is reliability a

Form a relationship with a local credit union and get them to write a different letter for each offer?

I felt somewhat trapped--wanted to maintain good relationship with MIL & her husband(who bought house and are going to be a permanent fixture in the neighborhood), but DIL & BF didn't look great on paper.

I'm a real dork when it comes to financial modeling and building custom spreadsheets on either Excel or Google Sheets.