He who maintains the grass dictates what goes on it.

When the auctioneer announces the terms of sale (which would have been recorded, and which terms would have dictated in the event of any conflict with the written or advertised terms), presumably he/she said something like "The decision of the Auctioneer will be final."

Your address might be at this 4-plex, but the government can't dictate where you spend your time. 

Not to mention the age, construction and how the sfr is owned will dictate if a company can or can not offer a quote.The best solution is to align yourself with independent agents (like the ones you have found)who can get you to the best option in that market in the least amount of time.   

The commission amount will be dictated by the listing agreement you signed.

@Matthew DrouinThat is a great position to be in.Now with regards to the refinancing options and how much you should take out, I'd say it depends on what your plans are.If you are planning on holding onto to that rental for the foreseeable future, you should stress test that property to figure out how much minimum income it needs to generate each month to meet your mortgage payments.That monthly would dictate how much you can conservatively take out after refinancing (and providing that you lender is OK with that too) without exposing yourself.Now if you have other deals that you want to pursue and you need as much cash as you can lay your hands on, you should take out as much as your lender would allow you to.Personally, I'd go for the option 1, especially if you have the  ambition is build a sound rental portfolio.

Actually,, YOUR State law dictates the period required to return a sec deposit statement.For some one like this,, I would have done a statement with outstanding rent owed and included a statement the date apartment was listed for rent,, and that the outstanding balance due would be adjusted as to the date the apartment is rented.You might have missed your window,, you might be out everything,, What did tenant sign when she left ???

I'm pretty sure there is no "set protocol" dictating such details.....maybe someone's opinion, but we know what that's worth.

Figure out how much you'll be able to get with the VA loan and let that dictate what you buy.

As far as license for wholesaling like @Chris Heeren said, its gray, the terminology that dictates what activities  require a license are (for a fee and for another) and a fee is described as compensation or a thing of value, so it doesnt have to be money.