But literally every single week I have encountered increasingly frustrating issues with everything from Vectra's online banking site, customer services phone line, debit cards, you name it! 

The problem I have encountered is locating deeply discounted properties, in my market, to get my Action Plan in gear.

Has anyone encountered CA FTB coming after an out of state Series LLC?

I've seen people say walk away whenever you encounter it and others who say it's not that big of a deal.I'm assuming it's not uncommon in Grand Rapids given the ages of a lot of the homes?

Its not a scam but its easy to fall into scam programs.

How can I be someone's bird dog so that I can get my feet wet or are these just scams?

private lenders are not on the internet or on lists.. those are all scams as you suspected.. your not going to get private money with your situation..  

In a crazy market, i usually only set up one time where a few people can go and get applications from that group.As a renter, there are too many scams out there of people asking for your info but not really having a property for rent.  

As an lender, I strictly originate loans to fiduciaries and have highly modified, proprietary notes and trust deed docs, anticipating the scenarios that we've either observed or encountered. 

I have encountered many flips in Fl where the price these flippers recently purchased these unrenovated properties for is closer to 80% of what the same flipper sold the renovated property for (this is not even taking into account repairs).