She was studying to get her CA Broker’s License which would fully legitimize us, and allow us to manage funds on behalf of the homeowner’s and have ownership of the listings and reservations.

If you are purchasing at a realistic 60-70% LTV, i.e. your offer is 70k and the appraised value is/should be 100k, I'd just absorb it as a cost of doing business.

I did not read the rules around security deposits. you may be allowed to use those funds and still file a small claims action for any remainder, but I can't imagine that it would be worth it if you have at least one month's rent in security deposit. 

If you really want to supplement your income, my thought would be to take out a HE loan (or some other 2nd position loan) and use that to fund a down payment on a property.

They take their portion of the housing voucher like clockwork and my funds are tied up in their system.

This can give you the flexibility to fund your flip without the restrictions of a HELOC.

For example, promises of guaranteed funding for deals were not upheld in my case.3.

Then, as you buld knowledge & experience you can do bigger projects.3) The two above strategies can build funds to invest in rentals.

Russell do you go for those high limits for a rainey day or use those funds to bridge your rehabs for pay cycle then pay them off so your not paying interest ? 

Few people have no clue what is or how it works, I was just reading today that the cannabis growers that will be trading BILLIONS of dollars in CA, cannot deposit those funds in traditional banks, therefore; many will be using Bitcoins and other digital currency.