Then sell the property and start doing fix and flip or fix and rent. ( I prefer to sell this property as it 100km away from my student rentals. ) Not sure if I should renovate the lower unit to sell.

Are you going to be starting your portfolio eventually?

Loan Officer, Brave Mortgage called me and we started a refinance option to be able to hold the property and get out of the balloon payment.

Starting off you will not do a zero sum investment plus get other people to invest.  

I've been looking at some properties and before I get started, I wanted to know does anyone have any reputable General Contractor/Contractor along with property manager in Columbus, GA because I haven't had much of luck in that department yet?

another issue it is about 18 months wait to get a Cabin started due to high demand for builder.  

Quote from @Rushi Shah: Hi everyone, my partner and I are renting right now and looking to start our landlord journey.

I'd feel comfortable investing ~$50k to start off.

What is the standard process from start to finish so we can eliminate as much risk as possible?

Right, @Karla Garcia but the trick in rehabbing is that you may think you know what needs to be done and how much it's going to cost until you start the process and then you knock down a wall and realize the whole house needs to be gutted!