I keep reading and can not figure out a clear solution that keeps me covered legally.

Just so you know though this one has a 1.5% commission so you will be responsible for paying the other 1.5% at closing to cover the difference"Buyer: "Never mind, lets go look at that other one on Elm Hallow"As far as using a flat fee service they really just send you a form to fill out with your sq footage, number of rooms, dimensions of rooms, taxes, a contract for listing.

Also, from May-Aug. we paid a total of $4,000 in holding cost to cover the HELOC payment.

Short term Loan ARV would be my suggestion you could get up to 90% of the Costs covered then refi out once the work is done in a year...but make sure to improve your credit in the meantime 

Some resources I recommend ( with 10 hrs of flying you may have covered these episodes:)PodcastsEpisode 108 - Grant Cardone...

For the lease, you'll need to be sure to get one that covers Oklahoma laws. 

any ideas, or pictures of floors that you have refinished??  

I am unable to see the inside of the property, the pictures were just offered to me as idea of shape. 

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.

If they are all equally qualified (areas covered, knowledge about investing, etc) I'd tell them all that I'd decide with a series of coin flips and I'd tell them that you're doing that to avoid damaging the relationship that you value so much.It's a hard situation, but if you're upfront with everybody, you should minimize the chances of hurting your friends.