I look for a fixed reasonable fee that is a straight percentage of gross rents collected, and that's it.

I am an agent in Ohio and work extensively with investors.

Do you see yourself being a sales agent/intermediary on those kind of properties and collecting a commission or do you see yourself being more on the investor side of things?

Con: They reduce my monthly cash flow (6 - 10%)Manage it myself:Pro: My cash flow is increased (at expense of time)Pro: Online tools make it easier for me to remotely manageCon: Time-consuming, especially during the leasing processHow to find a good property manager / leasing agentI go online and get reviews and quotes (Yelp, Thumbtack)I ask for 3 referrals or reach out to those people (note: I also ask tenants, since I want to make sure my tenants are happy and treated well)I ask what online tools and processes they use (for example, if they don't have an option to collect rent online ... then they seem pretty inefficient to me) I ask about transparency -- will they provide me with the background check, lease agreements, etc.?

But, as with everything don't lay all your eggs in 1 basket. try some other forms of advertisement, like Facebook, twitter, Instagram, craigslist, for example I don't have a lot of FB followers on my business page but, it get's me a lot of clicks to my website with a $5.00 boost campaign where I can collect data from buyers and sellers.

To be able to possibly get to a potential seller before a house goes on the market, I feel this is something I may have to try and do.Question #1 -  Where do I collect lists such as vacant home, absent owner, tax default or divorce / bankruptcy lists?

Depending on the extensiveness of the rehab, 90 days might be a little more realistic.  

In the event I get laid off, can I collect unemployment with this type of business income (being a member of the LLC with my wife) owning rental properties?

What kind of insurance coverage do you recommend for a fix and flip project...it will be a gut rehab as the house has extensive fire damage and everything will be replaced.

However, I don't buy a property without looking at the full picture (Collected Rents & actual Operating Expenses) and that's what the 2% rule-of-thumb fails to take into account.Happy investing!