You don't have access to the real MLS, and the sites you have access to are usually behind.  

I have resources that would be useful Ben

You can find more resources under Education for your REI learning.

I'm excited by the residential and commercial real estate market of Southern California, and want to begin to explore investing while continuing to focus on my career in hospitality operations & sales/branding & entrepreneurship.I focus on opening and building operations and sales systems for event spaces, specifically venues converted from industrial buildings and independent, site-specific hotels and restaurants looking to create or repair revenue streams from weddings, corporate parties, workshops, and in-house programming.

Welcome to the site @Tamika D.

There's a lot of helpful resources. 

Finally, does anyone use sites like Angie's L- for sourcing contractors or is it strictly word of mouth. 

I have heard others say they do this as well, but how exactly do you glean this information from the assessor's site alone?

I am thinking about starting at a big company for training resources and moving within a year or so to somewhere I am able to do PM. 

Great to have you on the site