Directly after signing up I called them to make certain I had not signed up for any "subscriptions" or "programs" and was assured I was not.

But because you rent by the room and YOU SELECTED the roommates (for which the other roommates had no control over), that makes you directly responsible to the other tenants should any harm or damage come to them.  

We don't directly manage properties.

Will it spark the fed to act, and if so, in which direction? 

As such, you qualified for a truly self-directed Solo 401k plan (as long as you don't have any employees working for you).

We would like to have more individuals that we deal with directly. 

I would suggest you getting on mailing lists of seller carry back notes and then market to those folks directly I get letters all the time on my seller carry backs that I do.

Information like: Do you want to manage the property yourself, or do you want to pay a property management company to do that for you, is important to know because it will start to narrow your options.If you want to be more of an active investor, finding the deal yourself direct from a seller, doing some of the work yourself to fix it up, and then representing yourself to sell it on your own is probably the most active you can be and will give you the highest return in the shortest amount of time.

I think you will get someone on here that can point you in the right direction 

That's the direction I was looking for.