I've paid off a few mortgages, but they were higher risk commercial and seller financed loans or conventional above 7%. 

Have you spoken to lender about using low money down conventional mortgage?  

She still has this whole year of high school left so trying to figure out if I should charge her rent while she's a HS student or chalk these next few months up to charity.

This means you need a really solid contractor who will charge you more. 

I've used a flat fee service but prefer to use a Realtor that charges 1% instead. 

I had an AC company come out and want to charge me $15,000 for a new AC. $15,000 for a AC system for a 750 square foot house. 

@Thuytram Tran Normally property management companies charge between 5 to 10 % of your gross income to manage your park.

Best way would be to then refi out with a conventional lender. 

They do not allow you charging for your time, though if you pay a handyman/junk company, you can charge for their labor Take pictures and write-up everything that the deposit is being withheld for.

It is super competitive in So Cal and can be hard to stand out.As for the original poster if you want to wholesale that's fine but most "training courses" aren't worth the money they charge.