Perhaps you find an third party investor, you purchase the plex, and then rent the other units to your friends.

I've seen some wholesalers say that they are consistently getting deals on the MLS- their method involves making LOTS of lowball offers.

The deal can be structured in any way, as long as all parties agree to the terms.

Unfortunately many giving advice on here also have no idea of the risk involved in renting to certain tenants and will give the wrong advice.  

Understand the fees involved and calculate the total cost for an entire year of management so you can compare the different managers.

The amount of money involved is so little that it needs to be flagrant and egregious for AG or anyone else to take action.If you are ticked off at your property manager, change property managers.

Stay involved, stay positive and you will get to where you want to be!

However how are you (or can you) claim the expenses paid to over seas freelancers when working with them directly and not through a 3rd party site like Upwork? 

In the near future, I would like to get involved with flipping properties and implementing the BRRRR strategy.

There is also a lot of skill involved that are challenging to get correct until experience is obtained.