I'm most concerned about vacancy due to the higher price point of furnished and if it may be a better idea to lease unfurnished/ long term. 

He has concerns  about the maintenance, property taxes etc,  so maybe another option would be for me  to buy it and rent it  to him. 

Interesting article about “Squatters’ Rights” in California; how they originated and their intended purpose vs. how they are currently being taken advantage of.California's Squatter's Enable Tenancy Rights After Just 30 Days, Raising Concerns Among Property Owners About Housing Security

Start with BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginners Guide (free).

Here are a few recommendations for you:Read Beginner’s Guide http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing and check out BP Podcast.If you wish to tag someone in the conversation on the forum, type @ followed by their name and then select that person below.

Are you concerned with losing the bookings or the listings?

The only concern I have is the laminate wood flooring.It is a 140K house.

fair return methodology used must be “concerned with the financial integrity of the businessas a whole, not the ability to obtain a return on a discrete portion of the business.”MNOI presumes that the rents Landlords chose to charge, in a year free fromthe idea of rent control, provided Landlords a fair return on their investment,as the rents that were charged were based on general market conditions, andnot the upward pressure that policy discussions of rent control may have onthe market.

As a beginner, before learning about all different types of lenders, I purchased my first investment property under a conventional investment mortgage in my own name. 

Some of the things I am concerned about are the carpets (older, cheap carpet to begin with), windows (do not open and close well), painting (do all the walls need to be painted white?