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I have a 7 year old Chinese elm. My girlfriend got it off of Amazon. I just bought some fertilizer and been oil for bugs. I live in metro Atlanta, Georgia. So it’s still winter so I’ve been keeping it inside and bringing it ought for some sun during warmer parts of the day. I just put some fertilizer on it and have noticed this brown gunk in the soil. Not sure what that means. Some of the leaves have been falling off of it. Not sure if they were already dead or what. I’m trying to figure out a good routine. I do the finger test on the soil to determine when to water. Here are some photos of the tree itself and the gunk I found

Chinese elms will lose their leaves in the cold season. In fact, when it gets cold enough it will likely lose all of its leaves. I'm not sure what the gunk is, I can't really tell from the photo. The tree looks fairly healthy in the image.
Remy

In fact not all chinese elms loose all their leaves in winter. Mine has been in unheated greenhouse constantly below 0c for 6 weeks and only lost a third of them.

Buying a temperate tree in full summer leaves in the middle of the winter is a big risk. The best you can do now is to put it in a protected place outside that dont go below 5c. As soon as risk for frost is over, put it outside for the rest of its life. Only protect it from prolonged periods of -10 degrees or more. This is a tree from temperate regions and it will need cold dormancy every year for long term health.

It looks very wet. It should not lose leaves if it is being kept in warmer conditions, if it does there is something wrong. It does need to be outside and if you are not having frosts then put it out now.

It looks wet because I sprayed it with neem oil to keep bugs away. I live in the south so frosting is no longer an issue so I guess I can put it outside and leave it now. I wasn’t sure if that was the right time. So the only time I should bring it inside is if it’s below freezing temp?

No, never bring it inside. If it drops below -10 c for a prolonged time, protect it with snow or in an unheated greenhouse/cold frame or shed.

After last week's cold snap it probably won't get below freezing for the rest of the year, but watch the weather reports. Leave it out now and that will probably be what you need to fight off bugs.

I am in Birmingham (the one in Alabama), with two kids in Atlanta, and the weather is pretty much the same, except we got snow last week.

Two years ago the weather dropped to 21F/-6C in April for three nights, so be ready for strange stuff. I moved everything into the garage, and then back out because they were all completely leafed out.