Look at thrift stores and second hand items for some thing-get sturdy things in good condition. 

You would have depreciation recapture on the items you depreciated (75k), taxed at ordinary income rates and then any of the actual property appreciation would be taxed at favorable capital gains rates (50k). 1031 exchange will allow you to defer all of that gain as long as you meet conditions.

For reference the higher value property is in California and the rest of the properties are in Texas & Utah.

Major items include clearing overgrown shrubbery, replacing doors, fixing up the deck, getting a pond running again, and removing an in-ground hot tub.

the first property I purchased was in Cleveland back in 2005 a single family that I purchased for  22k cash and i rehabbed it after work and on weekends this property was in the hood I put 12k in it put a tenant in and sold it for 79k to investor who an real estate agent referred me. 

A few additional items to help you: 1) If you have a Roth IRA, a Roth IRA can't be rolled into the Solo 401(k), only pre-tax funds.

It also included storing the items. 

If they were over 10-15 years ago, finances checked out, and he has landlord references, I might consider overlooking the incidents.

For reference, I’m in the growth phase of real estate investing so maximizing my returns is a clear goal.

They take the success that have had (and I am only referring to people who have actually had success, I am not referring to scam artists that pretend to have had success but who have never actually had success) and they figure out a way to present the information in a way where they themselves don't need to teach it on a one on one basis.