Sure charging 100 for a quote, weeds out the players from the serious ones, but it will also limit people willing to work with the contractor. 

A competing offer had been accepted right as I was being shown the property.

Every deal should be win-win lest the other players stop wanting to do deals with you.

They have kids that are less than a year or in some cases are planning to have children soon, yet they are still competing for properties in areas with higher rated school districts.So I think the desire to live in a highly rated school district (relative to other local school districts) is still a major driver across the majority of economic classes. 

For a rational player to buy a home, it must be superior to other alternatives. 

Read as many books/podcasts as you can and maybe reach out to a few of the local players to get some insight on the market prior to diving in.

Go back a couple years if you can, because so many players in this game are only "One-Year Wonders".Online Sales:  Most of FL (RealForeclose) are online, but I recommend going to the ones you can in person. 

I am a looking to get my first deal and am trying to nail down a source of funding in advance (along with all my other key players).

Your values are reflected in how you spend your time and money and also in the fears that hold you back.For me, identifying my competing values has made it easier to accept (and/or mitigate) the risk and opportunity cost that comes along with committing to a particular course of action.

You'll have to compete with all the other buyers out there to get the house.