We're looking for buy-and-hold long term rental properties that need minimal rehab work to be rent-ready.If anyone has any banking recommendations in Michigan I'd love to hear them.

I have active SFH long term rentals in the area. 

It's the same everywhere.Just include in your offers a term that the seller pay your agent from their proceeds. 

Purchase price: $674,000 Cash invested: $134,000 Long term rental purchased in area that is under development and predicted to rise in value over the next 5 years - 2br 2bth

But, you can't determine quality by simply what they charge.....as there are plenty of terrible agents who also charge a lot.You'll need to determine what value they bring to you personally and do a cost benefit analysis of whether the cost is worth it to you or not.

Yes, many hosts of short-term rentals (STRs) use inventory management systems to track supplies effectively.

If it is well located make it a short term rental.

As for renting, going cash flow negative isn't great, and your home isn't likely to appreciate as fast as it would if it was a single family home, so holding with hopes of increasing appreciation may be a verrrry slow play, but if you can afford to hold, having a tenant pay down your mortgage is an additional great benefit to real estate investing. 

But using a HELOC is a risk because a) the liability is against your primary residence and b) current interest rates on HELOCs, which typically adjust after the initial term, are anywhere from 8-12%.

I manage a couple properties this way, but am under no illusion that it provides any liability benefits.