It wasn’t as if I hired a private investigator, I literally typed in her name and it was all there for the world to see.

And if so are you able to hire your own estimator?

I am a huge advocate of hiring a coach and there is benefit in them, you have to do your due diligence and hire the right one. 

You hired the contractor, so poop rolls downhill.

Once you get the property under contract then hire a licensed inspector to perform a formal inspection, to inspect the property in much more detail. 

I am looking to acquire an out of state MFR and am pondering self-managing remotely or hiring a property manager or occupying one of the units.

All of which have different approaches and cost ramifications.Many investors compound their losses by hiring any contractor interested in their job because they don’t understand or have the skillset to cultivate, communicate, evaluate, or manage contractors effectively.

I'm considering turning over the portfolio to a property management firm, but when factoring the commonly used 10% of rental rate they charge, I may be better off hiring a property manager (perhaps on a part time basis at first, if not full time).

So sometimes owners will hire a company directly to handle those things or have their property manager take care of it.Pest control is a bit different and we usually handle these on a case by case basis.

Lots of people are OK with that because a lot of times people buying in that 2 to 5 million dollar range are more "sophisticated" than someone buying their first home or investment property and they know their way around the deal and don't need guidance, they just want to get the deal.If you feel comfortable with the deal process and economics then I wouldnt worry about what the listing agent is going to earn but if you are worried about getting hosed, you probably should be and hire an agent to work on your behalf.