If you want to pull your own permits, contact your local building department once your GC tell you what permits you'll need and they will tell you how to apply for them.Architects are useful if you are doing a full gut rehab or building custom homes.

I ask because applying what I pay now to my local management company that would be somewhat of a small net amount.

Generally, the County has a commission that put together a few data to find the assessed value of all properties and, upon that value, applies a mileage rate (a percentage).

I am going to try to apply the formula you mentioned to my future goal and try to figure out how it backs into the present. 

Here is what I have seen:  Taxes not paid for 5 years and owner applies to buy them. 

Paying $1500 a year for the education you receive as a Realtor and how it applies to investing, is much less than any seminar or coach.Anyway, that's just my opinion but I hope it helps!

I am considering going the Redfin AA route so that, like @Michelle Bright, I can keep my day job but still be involved in real estate and apply my learned knowledge toward both my investing and design companies. 

I wanted to refinance and then apply for a loan to purchase a new multi-unit.

I am stuck on how to apply the existing credit, without it being recorded as another deposit.

One word of caution: value-add and forced appreciation really only apply to property 5-units+ that are valued based on the income approach. 3 unit deals generally don't benefit from this.That said, I'm sure the value of the property will indeed increase due to your improvements.