As with any type of investment, investors should list the estimated costs to calculate their potential profit.Costs to consider on fix-and-flipsRepairs (always be conservative)Carrying costs (interest, points)Monthly costs (utilities, HOAs, insurance, taxes)Buying costs (back taxes, cash for keys, liens, code violations)Selling costs (commissions, closing costs, transfer fees, title insurance)Unexpected costs (add $5,000 to be safe)These are the basic costs investors should consider.

The technical options are easy to learn, some from books, some from talking with attorneys since they are basically rules you need to follow.  

@Albert JohnsonWould not add him...but the reality is he'll still be there often enough to basically live there.

Basically you need to be able to pay a large part of a long-term (multi-year) lease up-front, then still have some cash for renovation and interior/furniture, to finally recoup the investment through STR and a hopefully very quick way.

They wanted a report from my plumber which basically said it was a faulty drain(not sure why they didn’t ask for that before the tenants moved out). 

It’s great for basics like beds, dressers, and dining sets.

If the realtor is, they should be able to just ask you the basic questions they need answers to and keep this moving. 

My intention was to minimize my reported taxable income after taking expenses against the earnings through the LLC.I don't see how this would benefit you tax wise.In fact, I would be concerned that by mixing personal business (rental property in your name) with the LLC that you could basically nullify the liability protection the LLC offers  allowing anyone who sues you to pierce your corporate veil because of this co-mingling. 

Just yesterday I talked with a gentleman that was wanting to sell me a six month training going over two lessons a month in buying  apartments.The cost was basically 3k or $250 a session which would not and should not break the bank.

You can see where an over worked, doesn't care, inspector taking 3 weeks to look at basically nothing,  costs serious cash.