However, the pure essence of having a broker involved means you're opening up a commitment to pay when you could have eliminated the need to pay any commission by representing yourself with an existing tenant.Brokers typically earn their commission for the heavy lifting work of finding tenants or buyers and then getting them interested in certain property's, not necessarily for "transacting", assuming they are knowledgeable about the marketplace. 

The focus is purely on tenants.

I speak from experience of owning several such properties and while I made a good profit it was pure luck of timing picking the up after the crash.

If you are doing purely to save 3% your broker gets the 3% and you get whatever you negotiate for your cut....

MTRs don't seem viable in pure tourism markets (lakes, ski towns, islands, etc) is there really sufficient demand for people who can stay 30 days?

The biggest key is to find a good cleaner/pool guy that can handle minor maintenance things, like changing lightbulbs and batteries in the wifi locks. 

I use keyless locks (push button code) from homedepot they're about $100 and really easy to install and reset, battery lasts a very long time as well I would definitely use them for a vacation rental.

Making sure inspections are done at least twice a year to check furnace filters, dryer traps, smoke detector batteries, check for leaky pipes and ensure issues are addressed timely. 

I currently have my license and found the education to be great but as a pure investor with no inclination of being a RE Agent.

You are correct financially I am no way close to the 1 or 2 % rule, it’s purely a long term, low cash flow financial decision for a great location home with a very low inventory in rentals.