Flipping requires you to continue to do deals to make money while renting provides a steady income.

Just establishing network.  

Josh,Typically when you set up your LLC you need to establish your EIN Tax ID and open up a Business checking account. 

Airbnb pays vetted, established SuperHosts with years of successful experience to act as consultants to new Hosts.

Sorry to hear about this and it's definitely important to watch out for Ponzi schemes.At the same time: many syndications require an investor to sign an NDA to protect their confidential techniques, sources, customer lists etc. from competitors who could damage them otherwise.

If you ask the manager to justify a fee and he starts hemming and hawing, move on or require them to remove the fee.

The syndication required no work on his part, but the personal investments required constant supervision.

Airbnb pays vetted, established SuperHosts with years of successful experience to act as consultants to new Hosts.

I am strongly considering cashing out my 401K in order to be able to afford the 20% down payment that is required on my next duplex. 

I enjoy working with agents because they typically have already established trust with their investor clients.