I don't even recognize that person today.

Not that they mind paying them for a property they are genuinely interested in - but some landlords/PMs try to churn multiple application fees and view them as a source of income, as opposed to doing it in more of a serial fashion: 1.

The value compared to a traditional set of apartments or condos is the experience and potential for genuine interaction.

Never the less, we successfully finished the job and ended up splitting close to $100K.I won't get into the "passive agressive" nature of this person that soured our relationship, but the investor came back to recognize the absolute need for a contractor, by no admission, but for returning with a request for quote on their own attempt of a total gut rehab with one of their finds.  

I hosted a bunch of genuine Eagles fans at my house last night.

If he had shown you a ton of houses and invested in a lot of time in you then yes I could see that, but you are being respectful if you recognize that it's not a good fit and are respectful of both your and the agent's time. 

My question tonight is what would you guys recommend I do to progress in real estate and be able to lay my head down every night knowing I made genuine progress towards my goals?

One advice I would give you is to focus on building strong(er) relationships with brokers and property owners and do it from a genuine place.

The bank doesn’t recognize the contract because it has the wholesaler in it.

@Tony Salemi I agree that they should know what needs repair if it is obvious, but most PMs are not going to drive out to a rental for a $100 repair that they would not be able to recognize, let alone fix like a leak.