I'm like you though, I want to know everything before I take that leap of faith.  

Then you used an invalid contract, one made which was not made in good faith because you knew you were not qualified to buy, to place yourself in a position to facilitate a sale to someone else!  

Regarding the primer I hope you are aware that in California that if the correct amount of the security deposit is Not returned to the tenant that they can sue the landlord for the return of the security deposit, all court costs and expenses, and the judge may award the tenant the remaining amount of the security Plus up to 2x twice the amount of the security deposit if the Judge determines you withheld the security deposit in "Bad Faith"http://www.courts.ca.gov/1049.htm

You will lose your initial earnest money/good faith payment, if there was one. 

I have a loving husband, loving kids, faith in God, enough money so that my family is comfortable, so therefore I feel like I AM the richest person in my state😉

Personally I would take care of the repair as a show of good faith and understand that this behavior fosters a good relationship between landlord/tenant.  

You need to maintain the higher moral ground so that you can show good faith when it does go to court, so always make repairs in a timely manner.

If anyone has ready Terry Goodkind's "The Faith and the Fallen" then all this "approval by X committee before going to Y committee, then Z committee, then pay a fee to each of them and wait a month" thing is eerily similar...

Essentially, the Good Faith Estimate is combined with the Truth in Lending (TIL) disclosure, now called the "Loan Estimate," and the HUD-1 settlement statement is combined with the final TIL, now called the "Closing Disclosure."

I started in Real Estate at 13 too and my favorite Bible verse that helped me get through some of the constant "Advice" about me being too young etc was 1 Timothy 4:12 "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity."