His mom is co-signing the lease for him (but living in a different state and paying for his rent) and said he has mental disorder.

Most are looking for someone signing up as a cash buyer with no financing contingencies in the contract. 

I would recommend verifying leases/getting estoppel agreements, and using month to month lease terms instead of yearly (hopefully current tenants are close to end of lease or M2M already so they could sign your new lease). 

It is feeding ground for so called gurus to sign you up for classes.Good luck with your hacking.

Well, a week before I'm expected to sign, I get a call from my lender and was told they couldn't do the refi without me bringing cash to close...

Transaction costs are high. 

I have signed up for the next event on the 5th.

When meeting with the seller after the purchase price has been met, do you read and go over the purchase and sale agreement with them, or let them go over the contract themselves and sign the appropriate fields?

I’m only employed 10 months out of the year and at most, I’m only signed to a two year contract with a team.

There are mixed reviews on whether this is a positive or a negative, but if the other factors have been met, this is another great sign you've found a company dedicated to providing a quality product and resident to manage.Also, even though some of the prices look like there is a premium in price point, you have to find the value in the services being provided: Extensive research in the submarkets in their city, leasing services, value add to the property, and property management.