The property would be a multi family that me and my wife would live in one unit and rent out the rest.

The didn't live within their means, accrued a lot of debt, and it eventually resulted in them not paying rent and being evicted.Consolidating debt reduces their payments so they have more money available, but it doesn't automatically teach them to live within their means.

I’m not looking to make a living making phone calls, but without a budget, you gotta start somewhere.Your first sentence says it all. 

You could either de-convert the basement before purchase, buy with plans for de-conversion, or leave it as non-living space.

I live in North Glendale.

Most Temple residents live and work in Bell County.

I moved from the SF Bay Area to live and invest in Reno, NV because of it being much more landlord friendly, low property taxes, close to Northern CA and Lake Tahoe, strong appreciation, and I understood the market after speaking to a bunch of people and feeling confident about the future here.  

You'll probably want to look into having your assets held in a living trust or some other kind of trust if wishing to avoid probate in California.As to your question about the mortgage, there's a federal law that the attorney might be referencing that generally protects transfers into a living trust from causing the need to refinance, but would need more details to discern.

When my contractor went without me they kept him waiting over 2 hours then told him something completely inaccurate and they take no accountability for how they can literally destroy peoples lives and finances.

I believe in SLC, they are still requiring the owner to live in the main house (meaning you don't have to be there, but you can't rent it) for you to use the ADU for anything else.