They have effectively told you, by hiring the listing agent, that they do not want to be directly involved in negotiations and it won't go over well if you try to contact the seller.

I am hiring a property manager for my Airbnb who will also do the cleaning.

When I was "hired" there was no contract signed discussing commission splits, duties or responsibilities.

When they get the itch to demo a building (and downtown has a LOT of dilapidated buildings as we both know) they always look into the costs of new construction permits, costs of engineering/designing the structure(s) and getting them approved by the city, and the costs of hiring private construction contractors to build a brand new structure...  

I now need to hire an electrician to inspect the meter socket and replace the cover.

I have to disagree with @Josh Caldwell and @Daniel Hernandez on hiring a credit repair company.

If you do it yourself or hire it done, use a minimum of 10% in your calculations - now at $34,650. 

With good small apartment complexes you can hire a good management company and offer them a bonus for leasing out units.  

I asked him how much he owed, discussed the cost of hiring a real estate agent, the items potential buyers would ask him to coordinate/fix (cosmetic; floor, paint, cleaning) and the time it would take to sell.

Always had in my mind that they would have to charge a bit extra to cover the mark up, but I thought it could cost less since they pay so little to the contractors hired by them (The Home Depot).As I was at the home depot store last night questioning about the cost to get their services done, I was approached by a few people in the store, asking if they could give me a price for whatever I need, but on the side (not through the home depot service).