I have not used the tool before, but to my understanding the potential tenant will order their own background and credit check, which will be sent to you.

Damn straight it is.

If you want to be a productive realtor I would go with a larger brokerage that has the tools and training to help.

Scenes and automations are straight forward easily programmed in SmartThings and Samsung made some big improvements in that recently.

They give you some great tools, and they also have some great training/info on this very subject. 

Can anyone tell me if there is a tool on the website to find accurate rent numbers 

The agent that told you that is correct, however commission is negotiable, you can offer them a lower rate to list a property or use it as a negotiating tool in their next purchase assuming your broker approves, also it incentivizes them to use you again for their next purchase.

Whereas a loan from one person to another is much more straight forward (be sure you're still getting an official note drawn up by an attorney here).

But I haven’t found a tool for NY yet, specifically NYC, any tips?

It can be a useful tool and has many positives, but man do those edge-cases really burn!