I know of one person in Oregon doing it, but he doesn’t want to share how it’s done.

Personally I’ve stuck with SFH to avoid tenant on tenant conflict but thsi will let you find out if “the juice is worth the squeeze: with very little risk. 1) I assume you’re getting a least a few percent off for not involving a realtor.2) I assume you feel confident with the value (maybe ask a local banker what they would lend you on the property and even lay for an appraisal.)3) this is all assuming that this is a small investment to you as I’ve described above, not most of your savings and all of your operating cushion. 

One person booked at the normal rate instead of what we quoted and the other somehow had a pet fee attached which we still don’t understand since we do not have that as an option.  

I have nothing else to add, but I can vouch for the reliability of @David Goings, @Bryan Mitchell, and @Donnie M. personally. 

Standard practice and the veriage should prohibit the person from doing any deals directly with the parties you are in negotiation with. 

Personally I have 25 units and scaling up and generally speaking it takes me about 5 hours per month to do everything.

As that will at least help folks that you reach out to know that you are a real person, with a picture and professional bio.

I always recommend that anyone getting started attend in person meet ups.

I personally wouldn't entertain the gift option as I think its an unnecessary step and it can take significantly longer. 

Personally I don't like to do less than 20%.