The court will not award late fees, but you can still report and attempt collection for them after the judgement. 

I agree with that Tyler  but also it's bad for economies in long run  http://www.businessinsider.com/does-rent-control-w...It actually reduces the housing stock.They will be voting on increasing rent controls in a year in the state legislature, also on ellis act and are attempting to repeal prop 13 if we don't get active. prop 13 http://www.dailynews.com/opinion/20170407/in-pover...more on economics of rent control:http://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/there-is-never...

I would also not attempt to do it out of state, unless you have a very trusted partner in the area.Second, there is the value of your time.

This is my first attempt at a house hack, so advice is much appreciated!

I attempted to double the size of an existing project and my project ultimately went belly up due to my contractor knocking down the existing home.

I assume that the bank will repossess the house and sell it for a loss after an attempt to short sale it?

Would I be better off contacting the real estate agent that has already shown the property or should I attempt to contact the bank itself? 

I called someone to patch it and he was unsuccessfully after several attempts.

I'm in second lien position and property owner was attempting a short sale which was approved by bank but not all of the liens in time.

In these discussions, is it common to be representing yourself and trying to reach out to seller agents to find properties, and attempting to build the relationship with them?