You should start out in your "back yard" and just do what is average for that area. 

End products look pretty neat and it is nice that they are also eco-friendly.

There is a totally different license to become a real estate broker. you need to first get your real estate agents license and hang your licence under a brokers licence by joining a Brokerage or "firm". after X amount of years and production you can then start the courses and aplication to get your brokers license.

We both have average credit, just over $10k and both properties are single family, about $70k.

Average is probably 7.5-8%.

For instance, if you are a STEM graduate (on average, high income potential), then it might be better to invest in a combination of S&P500 and real estate portfolio.

What is the average number of addresses on the list?

We don't pitch products or services.

You have to be networked in that world to get the best deals and loan products.  

Also, here is the statement from Zillow CEO in another article “There are several startups and real estate brokerage websites experimenting in this space, but Zillow is the only one that has designed a product to keep the agent involved in every part of the transaction, most notably by giving them the opportunity to secure new listing agreements,” Rascoff said.