My initial thought was to try to get lift from the PPC game until the SEO process matured in 8 or so months, then becoming a more natural process.

We are naturally a bit skeptical but I wanted to know are they any questions we are allowed to ask seller in order to gain information before we make an offer? 

The second part of his reasoning was that since it is technically classified as an "investment property", the rate will naturally be higher than if I were buying a house as a primary residence (this I can understand).

Due to the nature of the situation, I highly recommend you speak to a RE attorney and tax professional about all options available to you and the estate.

In retrospect i would have loved to start out of state with the opportunities i am seeing and what i know now.I naturally built connections starting with my first realtor, who introduced me to my lender, who introduced me to my inspector, who introduced me to my contractor and going down the line. 

If you have a lot of natural light go dark if you don't go light. 

If I were you I would cancel the annual insurance and have enough saved in your emergency fund to take care of flooding in case you own the property when nature decides to flood that high.

Some people are naturally better at this than others, but anyone can improve their people skills.

It would depend on your layout and whether or not you have the proper ventilation and natural light allowances.

Once you have all of those things, breaking off into your own business and building a team is natural.