You simply have to be honest in all your dealings with people and make the proper licensing disclosures so there is no chance of confusing the “I am representing you as an agent verses I am representing myself as a principal in this transaction”@Wayne Brooks I understand you can represent yourself as an agent in any form.

They will be in charge of finding our contractor to build the homes and will represent us in selling the home.

Thats what I do with all my buyers/investors I represent.

Your examples, because they did not use leverage, are not representative of the performance that most RE investors achieved who purchased when you did. 

The building represented good value and is consistent with my focus on $2M-$5M total cost projects where there is a lack of natural market participants in the Philadelphia market.

don't say anything else after asking that question.Now if you are dealing with an agent - you are not going to have the opportunity to deal with the seller - so - you may want to just make an offer 25% below what ever it is list for.AUCTIONS: As for real estate auctions - I have been an auctioneer for many years selling hundreds of properties annually - I would like to say that we do not always satisfy the sellers reserve price (Oh - we only represent owners and investors - no foreclosures) but we don't always get the auction price up to the reserve - but the good news is that at the auction the owner becomes very motivated to accept a lower bid - thus a great equity profit is made ------ so do not discount auctions if you are looking for a great deal.Believe me I have seen so many properties sold at auction that have a ton of equity.Someone recently said "The best deals are MADE and FOUND"So ---- how do you MAKE a good deal from the many properties out there that do not look like a good deal?

So I tell them then tell the person you represent , who hired you to pay you .

Represented by me.

Generally will cost you about one month's rent, and some of that amount may get paid from your listing broker to the tenant's broker that brought the tenant resulting in a successful lease agreement (this benefits you because you are essentially offering financial compensation to other agents that represent who you need: tenants!)

Seeing how they represent other landlords will help you narrow down to a couple that you can choose from.Best of luck