We hired home service pros to redo the plumbing, floors, kitchen, bathroom, and more.

Have also read that some lenders will refi right after PM is hired and leases signed, no actual elapsed period of actual renting. 

Like hiring anyone else I suggest asking for references.

I hired a third party (landlord friend) to serve notice and sign affidavit. 

Going to have to hire an attorney to draft what you're looking for to "look professional" I'm not sure your self prepared docs will do that.

There are different ways to automate it or even hire a property manager if you can. 

I'm new to real-estate investing and I'm trying to understand the difference between the different forms of investingI want to play this RE game for the long-term and have the portfolio benefit from appreciation, depreciation, tax-free cashing-out, leverage using low interest rates, cashflow to cover the expenses.Here's my understanding of eachDirect RE- Full ownership / control of when to sell- Can leverage & deleverage as you want- Work involved to maintain property; But can hire a property manager to assist- Can provide cashflow to cover expenses + CoC return- Provides hard collateral / security for the money you put in- Tax benefits - depreciation, phantom appreciation, interest deduction Majority Partnership- Form partnership where you are majority owner with 2+ other people (with more capital input) - Can provide benefits of direct RE on controlSyndication- Passive investor / accredited - Less work- Access to commercial RE which you can't get otherwise- No security / collateral for your stake; Can loose everything- No different from investing in a business- Already leveraged returns; You don't control how asset is structured- Depreciation benefit passed through K1; But no benefit of 1031Crowdfunding- Low minimums- Already leveraged returns- Can be equity or debt based; Equity stake has some tax benefits through K1- No security / collateral and everything can disappear without recourseIs this correct? 

You need to first hire some "qualified intermediary" (a company specializing in facilitating 1031 exchanges), and the sales proceeds will be held in escrow by that company.

The seller hired an agent for a reason. 

Once you’re done spending tons of money on the rehab, please hire a professional photographer to take your listing photos.