I think state filing and additional partnership docs were about 450$

Taps can also be bought and sold but sometimes the entity serving the water controls it more and in doing so reduces the value. 

I should contact the PM and get justification for each one.2) Either the PM reduces some fees, or I step up and pay some of them myself, but the tenant shouldn't have to pay all of these egregious fees.3) I should not contact the tenant directly.

My primary goal is to reduce my housing expenses by house-hacking.

There are a lot of things you can invest in relative to real estate and get a good returns with additional appreciation. 

The mobile home owner pays an additional $200 per month in rent to keep it and live on the property.

In addition, since your partner is a real estate agent you can put the agency banner head and his photo on the letter showing that he is a real estate agent.

I am currently transitioning from being a law enforcement supervisor (where I have been for 5 years), to running my own interior design and staging company in Seattle with additional interest in rehab project management for investors/flippers.

I would start by attempting to understand seller motivation: if the rents make sense/cover the note and the ARV is 50k, why is the landlord selling at such a reduced price?  

They have a newsletter full of content that you can customize with your contact info, and print off and distribute.Then, I would pick an area that you want to farm. start small, and add additional sections as money becomes available.If you are really eager, and ready to work for it, print off the most recent comps of your farm area (or the newsletter as mentioned above), and go walk the neighborhood.