Even hiring an attorney will cost more than just cutting the check and being done with it. 

Hello, I plan to buy a few condos in Oakland, California and am in search of a lawyer I can hire to do the transactions.Is there a government website or something similar I can use to lookup the name of the attorney who represented the buyer in a specific Oakland real estate transaction?

.: 1) Hire a professional photographer 2) Rearrange your photo order 3) Use Zillow Video of the Apartment 4) Review your description 5) Renovate or stage the apartment (including a virtual stage) 6) Review how much you're renting it vs. what the market is offering.

I hired a plumber locate the pipes and run a camera but he said he cannot see because they are full of muddy water and he cannot locate the pipes because of water in them. 

My first question though is why split the profits with the contractor versus just hiring him outright? 

What you can do is hire an independent appraiser on your property for a fee $750-1500 to get a true idea of the value and that would be able to help you with your decision making process. 

Better yet, hire a General Contractor/Home Inspector......a good one will be able to identify most all problems well enough.

But this servicer wants to hire outside counsel (at our expense) to review our defense strategy before deciding whether we'll defend them or not.I know they have in house counsel.

I hired someone to replace the moldy drywall behind the shower and put up a new tub surround.

People having success with this model are buying within a narrow search criteria (4+ beds, 500+ sqft per tenant, 3+ showers, plenty of parking, no HOA restrictions prohibiting non-related occupants, proximity to major employers etc etc.) and hiring management that specializes in the model and has systems + methodologies in place to account for turnover, roommate politics, common area cleaning, utility costs.