@Vivian Short Hi and welcome officially to BP, even though you've been about far longer than I.

This is the hotel lobby at its best, they are alarmed at how many homes are coming to market and the effect it has had on the demand for their hotel units.

I only do month-to-month leases-- so zero official evictions for our rentals.      

Now that we are almost officially into the summer market here in San Diego.

You'll want to research the official state sites for registering corporations and entities.

I am sure they want an official offer from an approved lender before providing, but I don't know if I want to go through that process just yet without all the details.

As far as a referral fee is concerned - You might maybe offer some nice Starbucks gift cards to any lender that sends you a pre-qualified buyer as a thank you - I would not make any official statements about paying them every time they send someone to you - but a nice thank you and gift card can go a long way - just be sure to look at the RESPA  rulings to be sure that you are not in violation of compliance.  

The email would most likely be a gmail account for now but will set up email forwarding to a more official email once I get a website set up....which is also related to this question, if that is a good idea now or after a few investments under my belt? 

I was thinking that I still want to do the official application, background/credit checks through apartments .com because I really like the reports they give.

If you're concerned then get the official lab test done.