My educated guess is that they are done by local house wholesalers hoping to make a profit, but are they something else?

Thank you BP members, good luck with all your journeys and let's help out one another by attending this event! 

A lot of this is speculative of course but make educated guesses and if after all that you still have significant cash flow then start looking at you options for refinancing and see if there are good rates available, and terms available (it is possible your current loan is better than anything you can get now that you have it as a rental and since rates have trended upward)  In the end this is a numbers game. 

Thank you all for the education you have provided me.

I wouldn't invest with anyone who's not willing to do make this info available.You probably also want to get educated in how syndication works.

This is common practice as they get you in their doors with a free seminar, then you are pitched some education program for several hundred to several thousand, then the upsell to the “insiders club” for tens of thousands.

Good luck on your journey.

I am very interested in purchasing a rental property and starting my journey but unsure of where to start.

I am a 28 year old male from southern California (Orange County) and  looking to start my journey in real estate investing.

Since you are new to REI, the obvious start is with education but I would suggest making some 5 year, 1 year, 6/3/1 month goals with the end in mind (retirement and lifestyle).