That being said I do have some discomfort using the term because it's relatively new (to me) compared to shows like McGilivray's Income Property which lead me to purchase my current "house hack".

Up to this point I have worked with an agent that has their standard offer contract that they use or wholesalers that send out the contract that they want used when sharing their off market deal so the DIY approach is new to me and I don't want to make a costly mistake.  

Up until about a couple months ago a former teammate of mine reached out to me and told me if I really wanted to do something different, go get my real estate license and hit him up again.

They’ve had our agreements for over a month and title still isn’t ready, hence the reason they probably haven’t been responding to me.

If he wants a commission and also wants a share of the profit without buying in as a partner in the deal, that sounds fishy to me.  

Thanks for the confirmation @Wayne BrooksThat's what it seemed to me as well.

Riskier markets would be more interesting to me when we're in recession, not as rates are rising and the economy is near full employment. 

He also has purchased different types of properties in multiple states, and was a mentor to me as I got started.

The lease that was given to me in escrow gave an end date of May 30, 2018. 

That's not to say I couldn't try to do something closer to me (in Massachusetts), but I don't have a lot of time to commit to the investment.