@Maddison MartinSome market just don't produce cash flow, and the way to profit is through appreciation and tax benefits.

I am responsible for all renovations of the property, including taxes and insurance.  

I am a recent graduate from Texas A&M university and a few months prior, I was considering getting into Wholesaling.I learned that with Wholesaling, there were so many pitfalls concerning wholesaling, legalities that one needs to deal with when wholesaling properties, so I decided to look at another alternative route instead.One of the areas that caught my attention was being a refferal partner for Real Estate and Private Equity investors.Do you guys know what states such activities are going to be legal or illegal?

Also (very important) when STR online portals (Airbnb/VRBO etc) will collect tax and send it to your local govt along with the address for which it was collected.

your business will have it's own tax return depending on how you structure it and you'll get a partner return either profit or loss and that will pass through to you typically if you are an LP. if you are GP it's a little different. you also get the depreciation of the asset as a tax write off as well as interest expense typically. 

A lesson learned in this process so far is that adjusting rent is important specially considering the increases in taxes when going from 4% to 6%.

Taxes are reappraised every year and if it is not your homestead, your property taxes can go up without limit.You have to really know the market and not just what prices seem to be.

You didn't even mention tenants who don't pay rent, evictions, vacancies, HOA violations, the consistent rise in taxes and insurance, bad property managers, and the many other issues that cut into your profit. 

I don't see a prior Vacant Building Notice so from my understanding, I shouldn't expect to see a U&O.Here's an example:https://cels.baltimorehousing.org/TL_TM_MAP.aspx?

I own a hard money business and we never ask for payments prior to closing on the loan.