As mentioned above by Todd and Cathy, use the leverage.I would not recommend investing any additional money in the stock market because you already have $800K of your 401K invested in stocks/funds.You're in great shape, keep going!

My background in real estate/rehabs has been full gut job remodeling houses that my parents have lived in as well as remodeling my current home, at one point I was a mortgage loan originator (helps knowing how mortgages/financing works), and I'm currently in the process of getting my home inspection certification to help identify issues for my own benefit was well as generate additional income.  

So you do all the work and because of this additional language, if added, you get no commission?

In my current situation I only have the ability to do one deal per year so I'm exploring the idea of using a HML to buy properties quickly and at a deeper discount.

I've heard recently that the State of California passed a "ADU" law (Additional Dwelling Unit) which allows for a conversion of a garage to another livable structure.

You have to buy with a good discount built in at purchase for these to work.Example may be  in order.

3) With me being a realtor, I can list the property at a discount rate (still have to pay the brokerage a little fee) and we save about 12K in listing fees (still have to pay the buyers agent, unless I sell it personally). 4) Should we try to get the hard money, or should we be looking for a cash investor that might see a benefit of not having to pay capital gains taxes or listing agent fees, and partner with us?

[I also had to limit how many 10's she could have because if not everything will be a 10 for my wife ;) ].Hope that helps, and hopefully others can chime in and bring some additional perspectives! 

Most owners/managers charge an additional $75-$150/unit/month for utilities into the rent.

These are things that are cheaper when you hire contractors who specialize in those things, as they can get discounts on the materials, they own the tools and they can finish the job in probably a third the time as a handyman.For example, painters can generally get paint for 30-40% less than a handyman just based on quantities they buy.