For reference, I had my house appraised for a refi, but we ended up switching banks, because bank one became a pain in the butt.  

Was hard to initially get everything switched over from paper leases to automated electronic leases.

Also, I am not a lawyer, so I was looking for a template for a contract to protect me and the seller.   

You should consider getting the new rental into an LLC for some liability protections.

I initially thought home insurance would cover such situations, but after research, I realized I need a separate insurance for service line protection... 

I plan to transfer the property to a TX LLC for purposes of liability protection not too long after closing.

The reason I bring that up is because if you really focus during your part time agent work to build up your lead flow and database, you should theoretically be able to make the switch to full time in about 90 days.

Once you have reached your limit you can start using commercial loans in an LLC.The LLC is a legal entity that offers another layer of protection in some cases.

So I'm not sure how you'd do a hard money loan to fix it up in an LLC then switch it to your personal name afterwards.

I would pass unless switching to 6 month or longer leases still works with your business plan.