The agent told me he's waiting for a contractor to give him a bid for repairs so he can verify what I'm saying it needs and what it's going to cost.

These lenders will usually have a place of business that you can go to, have a website of some kind, have a professional email account that's not gmail, have a license or professional credentials of some kind, or have done verifiable loans to someone else I know.

Now if it were a commercial property with verifiable cap rate comps then EVERY property is a viable opportunity AT MARKET CAP RATE. 

My claim is easy to verify as you can look up the appreciation on San Diego real Estate for a wide range of years and compare the appreciation to other markets and compare just the appreciation to what could be expected in cash flow in a better cash flow locale. 

I spoke to my dad about locating money lenders and he told me I'm wasting my time because no one will give me any money if I don't have an income.Secondly, the people close to me are telling me that most of the money lenders are probably scammers, trying to take my identity, so I cannot trust anyone, And thirdly, my dad is telling me that because I am 18, I am at no legal age to sign any formal contract for any loans..

Would this be your only verifiable income?

Just did a drive through DP the other day and the first street, I swear the first 25 houses were identical.  

You put in the $2500 and he gets it when the deal funds as verified by your closing attorney.

Once my client is completely ready to submit, I send over a full package to the other party including an the signed Purchase and Sale agreement, a copy of their pre-approval letter or proof of funds, a picture of the escrow deposit, a sheet explaining all of the comps that verify the offer price, and a brief explanation in the email as to what some of the terms are. 

It's a serious, serious waste of time and money (I'm being redundant here, I know)I've assigned slightly over 75 lease option deals in 10 different states, and not once have I ever spent a dime of money marketing my deals (okay, this might be a bit of a stretch, because I've spent money on local proxy IP's and local phone numbers to create a new craigslist phone verified account, in order to keep my deals live on craigslist without getting ghosted by them, but that's a much deeper discussion).It is incredibly easy to find lease option buyers.