I think unless you're doing multiple transactions a year, it doesn't make much sense.

What would over ride it is if it had something illegal in it.

To me that means it may be an illegal use of the property. 

They are taught to leverage, leverage leverage......and don't understand the risk.In my opinion, you are very close to being able to leverage safely with less risk.One thing you can do (keep your partner out of this transaction) is take the three deeds you have, find a local bank willing to work with you and leverage the deeds into a line of credit.Chances are it will be interest only loan, but you will have cash available when needed to purchase additional properties or for emergencies.

Its traditionally easier if you end up with a lead on a wholesale type property to instead simply represent the buyer you bring to the transaction. 

This grey area seems to stem from the definition of a broker, and as a wholesaler without a license, is illegal when done incorrectly.

They finished my taxes just about a week go.Right now I'm on Xero for $11/month and the only real work is about 5 minutes a month for transactions the software doesn't know how to categorize

Also, they should give you a heavy discount if you are still moving ahead with the transaction 

We are likely to hire a real estate attorney to ensure that our interests are covered as thoroughly as possible so my concerns are limited to negotiating based on a single realtor in the transaction.

At least you end up net positive with the transaction.