The homes would be small enough to limit/dissuade any partying and separated to potentially reduce noise complaints.

If you have the $50k to prime the IB pump, it is simpler and more direct to reduce the debt or buy good real estate. 

Many rental property owners time their leases to avoid vacancies during the holidays/winter and that reduces inventory.

Just a deck, the most odds in my favor to reduce risk.

And I don’t think that anyone in this industry who is at a 50-50 split with their broker, or has an endless amount that they would pay into their brokerage every year, year after year, has a particularly good earning arrangement.Last year I started considering starting up my own brokerage, like you’re doing now, and at the same time I investigated cloud based brokerages as I saw they had many advantages over traditional real estate brokerages, and that being a reduced overhead.

This takes a little more work, but it's the most fair and reduces the likelihood of tenants that squander utilities.If you choose #2 or #3, there are considerations:Start with an average.

there would need to be a clause that if the management of the property was no longer managed by you or if it did not perform to certain criteria that you would not receive any compensation or a reduced compensation until I as an investor at least made a decent return on my investment. 

Reduced taxes and increased cash flow.  2.   

Much of this money is retirement money for the true private lenders, so rest assured they will be very very careful of who they lend their money too, and the safety of the deal for them....and it will have to pay them more than they could get with safer alternative investments.Maybe you can reduce some of those costs if your first duplex is paid off and you're willing to use that as collateral.Can you borrow today against the duplex?

Helps with relocation expenses Reduced risk of a lawsuit Allows you to be pet friendly Lowers the chance of an increase in insurance premiums