I have the financials for the past 3 years so I was basing it on these numbers but I will adjust to see how that looks. 3.

C area I would expect somewhere between 10% and 15%.Have you received any financials from the seller to show actual numbers?  

In the contract I have with a PM they do 'best efforts' but do not bear any financial responsibility for anything.

If S8 is not rising annually you need to drop all S8 tenants and get out of the system.If there is no additional financial benefit to renting S8 ther eis zero incentiveto be in th eprogram...except maybe for disconnected landlords.

I currently work for the Army as a pilot and plan on getting out in 5 years. it would be a dream to be financially independent by that time so I can pursue things in which I'm passionate!

Also, as part of the offer you want to ask for all financials/rent rolls and leases this way you can look into the current leases (are they month to month?

My question is should we still get an agent even though financially we are not ready?

Exactly @Matthew Paul, it ain't rocket surgery to sell a property FSBO, especially in a seller's market.The facts are, we're not talking about 80,000 properties anymore and consumers, the ones with 1/2 a financial brain, are waking up and realizing that giving away 6%  = $30,000 in real estate commissions = approx. $48,000 of Gross Income, is absurd and completely avoidable.  

I've been working informally with a financial partner who is also interested in this deal.I was hoping to get advice from the community on how I need to establish the partnership agreement. 

Focus on paying high interest loans and on maximizing your income, that will help your financial position when applying for a loan.