One is more than I want to spend... another is bidding it today after we walked it yesterday....In the future I will get 3 contractor bids, as well as independent trade bids for each part...

We had to go through an independent individual to hire an appraisal and she also had to contact the appraiser for any questions about their appraisal.Let us know if the rules have changed.

At this point, I would absolutely hire an independent appraiser to make sure common practices for this calculation has been followed.

My real goal is financial independence through semi-passive income.

@Peter Sik if you have a home, and 1 sfr in CA, then you can find some good options from a local independent agent who focuses on insuring home and auto. 

(BTW, My CPA would never recommend that I make a business move based on a proposed piece of legislation, that's why I like him.)A sole proprietorship does not pass through another entity...it's you and taxed at your personal rates.A single member LLC can elect to be treated as an s-corp for tax purposes.The decision to move personally owned properties involves decisions around legal liability and financing, independent of proposed legislation. 

She is Virginia based, in California based and am an independent Contractor for the first time this year and we will be doing some investment property LLCs.

I found you all through my quest of financial independence, and have since decided to go the real estate route since we are already kind of headed that direction anyways.  

My parents are getting older and they don't have retirement plans or assets so I'd like to start earning more income to attain financial independence both for myself and for them.

There's a temptation to make up problems that really don't need fixing or to only identify problems that they're capable of fixing.Walking the property with a contractor pre-offer is great to get a general sense of what the property needs but the post-offer inspection is your independent assessment of what's needed to bring the property up to code.