I assume that (for now) you are most comfortable with small projects since you said Handyman.Getting bids will suck a lot of your time away from your main investment strategy. 

Have your list and your max bid ready, but see what happens at the sale. 

I ended up bidding over my max bid, then dropping out to a very enthusiastic bidder I was kind of scared of. 

The issue now is that I'm not sure if I bid on a second mortgage or if there are multiple mortgages on the property.

But for simiplicity’s sake I bid/buy based on market rate assumptions. 

Is it normal for a contractor to charge $150 fee to inspect a property in order to give a bid/line item estimate?  

If it's a tire kicking bid or genuine, it depends on who you ask.

It acts as an emergency fund In my opinion while it’s not deployed anywhere, and god for bid you have a large capex item go that you might not be 100% prepared for and you can resolve it immediately.

For people newer to the rehab process I always suggest getting written bids from the contractors you are going to use for each step in the process.

I am making the decision to let it go, since I can’t afford the repairs as the bids are coming in higher than what the insurance has paid (maximum).