It may sound like I'm acting helpless, but I think many people overestimate what beginners know.For what it's worth, I'm looking to buy and hold a property and rent it out for cash flow.

The programs I have come across that offer an online portal have a minimum property limit of 10+.It also sounds like your agent does not have the best process in place. 

It was featured in the last podcast episode and sounds like a great landing page

Sounds like you have a great plan in place already.

You said "next" so it sounds like you have an asset or two that might have some equity you could use. 

This has been discussed in other threads going back for months, esp the number of condo projects now coming online, when you have a building with a few hundred units completed it’s going to have a major effect on the YoY numbers when the whole county new listings are only around 4000 per month. https://seattlebubble.com/blog/2018/06/12/around-the-sound-king-county-sees-the-biggest-gains-in-listings/

It sounds to me like SPS thinks they are the only loan on title.

Sounds like your "lurking" has lead you to a pretty solid strategy for your REI career.I don't have many regrets in my REI journey, but if I could do it over, I would house hack early and often, just like you're planning.

Sounds like we’re in a very similar situation right now.

It may sound nice to pay a 5% management fee but the extra fees can add up to be more than the other company that charges 10% with no add-on fees.