Things that my wife and I do that shows were legit is show our past projects, portfolio, and disclose to the seller our repair plans.

It isn't that big of a deal here, particularly with a lifetime guarantee from the repair company.

They would like to give me first crack at purchasing the property because of my phone call.

If I was in your situation, since you say there are repairs to be made anyway, I would say it's not a bad option to get a hard/private money loan to pay off the arrears and do the repairs, then do a cash out refi in 6-12 months to pull your money back out.

My plan is to occupy the home as I complete repairs.

You certainly would want some sort of slush fund for expensive stuff that could go wrong up front but assuming you budget for it, the rental income should pay for the repairs over time once reserves are built up.  

On 7/28/18 I got a letter from her stating she was not returning my security deposit of $2,100 due to repairs the apt required.

I am going to start getting burner phones so each account has its own phone number. 

I was wondering what percentage people are using for vacancy, repairs, capex, and management fees when using the rental property calculator to evaluate deals.

I’m in the middle of my first wholesale right now, and a member of the REIA gave me my end buyer in literally one easy phone call.