I am having some trouble finding a reputable attorney in Southern California, around the Orange County area, that understands real estate investments, syndication, and appropriate business structures.

I think it is awesome you have your eyes set on the future and want to set yourself up for when you feel you are ready to invest.It seems that you are looking for a "mentor" that will help you learn the fundamentals as you progress which is great; however, a lesson I learned is that it is difficult finding a reputable mentor without offering some sort of "value."

I just ran out of web lookups and was told I need to call their number and enter each number over the phone to look them up.Is this process that I'm using standard?

There are some things you can do to protect yourself, such as getting multiple estimates and sticking with contractors that are reputable (for example, I found that sites that have a rating that contractors need to maintain like Angie's List provides better contractors versus places like Craigslist where it's the wild West.).

My brother has a constant monthly salary (web developer), whereas my monthly salary is more random (restaurant server).

Management seems low...never seen a reputable firm below 7% of gross rentsYou have an ARV of $400k, but your analysis says CAP places value at $323K...if the value is $323k, and you pay $370k?

When I do acquire properties from the sale, the cost to “qt” the title from a reputable law firm is always factored in.

I value my reputation more than anything I could say in 10 seconds.

The mobile web and app experience is pretty bad on my iPhone, so I deleted the app.

I love their web and mobile apps.