@Matt M.I'm from Boston, and here is my advice:First get a license and as a licensed agent you can earn a fee to facilitate the transactionIn the listing agreement:The seller can pay you the 3% and you can facillitate the lease and option "acting agent for" Seller is paying you 3%.for facilitating the lease option, and buyer can have 3% option fee to the seller directly.  

He is a licensed contractor/ builder and we specialize in rentals.

Currently I am a licensed RE broker but I think I could have much more financial freedom as an investor.

I work for a Real Estate investment company in PB and am a licensed agent.

I passed my exam, got my license and affiliated with Coldwell Banker all in a week.

Most states you cannot pay non licensed people kick backs for commissions.you can though just not charge what you would normally charge.so if your normal fee was 6% to double end and you wanted to only charge 3% nothing wrong with that

I haven't decided which brokerage I'm going to hang my license with, but I will be getting my real estate license within 3 weeks.

Another question I have is I am a licensed realtor and an investor. 

Around me, the cities impose a number of additional rules, licensing, fees, etc.

But I can do all my own work (excepting when the city requires licensed trades, of course), and don't take into account what I would have paid myself.