From my employer, I have legal insurance through ARAG that covers 100% of attorney fees when buying a primary residence, filing fees are extra.

"Every Landlord's Legal Guide" by NOLO is a good book for this purpose.

I am fully aware this is not a legal advice forum, but just looking to hear what other landlords have done in this situation. 

Will a builder even talk to me if I'm not approved for a loan yet? 

Sort of forgot about them, looks like my property was "approved" with them but that's the last I've heard from them and this was last December.

Actually, YES, not only MAY the act of simply showing a property factually create "procuring cause" and be inclusive of a protected list, BUT just the action of having sent an e-mail of the listing, client having opened and seen that listing, not ever setting foot on premises, YES, that alone CAN be "procuring cause" and LEGALLY include such property into a protected list. 

Talk to a lender and see what you area approved for.

The best thing to do would be to consult an attorney, but likely, that is not an option for everyone starting out.I'm not an attorney, and this is not legal advice, but some of the information that we include in our contracts is:- A clear scope of work - Payment schedule / Milestones- Change order approval process- Allowances for finished materials- Reasons to terminate the contract- Expectations for start date (X amount of time after final plans /permits are received or X amount of time after the contract is executed)- General schedule and timeline (This is where you could specify an end date - however it may be better use incentives rather than liquidated damage if your general contractor is late - we've done both, but found General Contractors respond better to getting something if they get done early instead of being punished for being late. 

The company hesitated to proceed with any further legal action and asked me to give them some time.

This is why the agencies don't let you swap out management companies, or engage in unexpected mass-renovations (as opposed to simply renovating on turnovers), without their prior approval.