What are some standard process or contracts needed before the partnership to make sure both parties are protected?

Food for thought.

Which is easier to deal with than a non paying tenant.Once they're gone, you'll need to tighten up your screening process or find a PM to take over.

Seems to be an issue with 3rd party processors  

I have been poor very poor living off food banks and pawning items just to eat for a day and do it again.

Consequently you either sell to the least qualified owner occupant imaginable, likely pay 6% seller assist, get crushed through the home inspection process or come to the conclusion going through that process 4 times is not worth the hassle and find an investor to purchase the homes as a package at a discounted price.

: I understand that there is commercial and residential, but there has got to be subgroups While I don't think you need to niche down immediately, some specializations in residential RE are:- Co-op- Condo (incl. luxury)- SFR (median pricepoint)- SFR Luxury- MFR- RentalsThere are a ton of commercial RE specializations including retail (various types), restaurant, other food/bev., warehouse, storage, and dozens more.What should I expect when first coming into the profession ?

Next week talking with financial advisor to move from a broad approach to more food or consumer perishable goods, medical portfolio.  

Not saying your kid is or is not on the spectrum, but just food for thought in how you approach it.If they are on the spectrum, I would highly recommend making a concerted effort to go to open houses so he's constantly looking forward to something on the RE agenda.

The rest of the day will be seen as Benchmarking exercises: beaches and good food!