I was wondering if paying for all the mortgage data right off the bat would benefit me in any way or if I'd just be donating to listsource's bottom line.

Since I downloaded the contract from a specific company website, I wonder if the contact was modified to benefit them.

That's great info @Andreas Mirza, really shows the benefits of having an experienced partner on your team.

I was able to find a couple contractors who saw the benefit of working for me year-round (at a fixed rate), but the rest of them wouldn't come off their market rates in the summer months, so they only worked for me during the winter (at about 1/3 of summer rates, because they were all fighting for the work).Again, that's certainly their prerogative, and it's not my decision what they charge or how they run their business, but it meant that volume didn't play into the equation. 

Then he will diagnose it and help me do a cost/benefit analysis of repair vs replace.

This last weekend I joined as a Pro member to get all the resources and benefits and am really excited to use them.I work full time as an engineer so my plan is to work real estate part time to generate extra cash flow and build up some assets.

The owners don't have to worry about advertising, applications, screening, vacancies, maintenance, etcetera.... that's the benefit of signing the lease option with me.

I would be more than happy to steer you in the right direction.Since moving back to the area where I grew up, I started dating a girl who also sees the benefits of investing in real estate.

To me if I am going int with partners I don't see the benefit of only buying one house together.   

In both cases, neither are looking out for the benefit of the investor.