Referrals from local investors on BiggerPockets can be a great resource. https://www.biggerpockets.com/business/finder/agents@Mark Ainley sounds like a great person to link up with!

What made you think this person had no experience whatsoever and didn't own their own home? 

Advanced QuickBooks ProAdvisor was introduced in 2007, to get certified the requirement was: one had to be certified for 3 years in a row and had to attend 2 day in person and online courses.

Since the LTV on the hard money loan is high , I would personally purchase it using a bank statement loan at 85% LTV (15 percent down) and, as you mentioned, just use your cash for the rehab.

Take a look at Personal Property versus Real property coverage, plus clean up costs to make sure your covered.I would also look at covering your project from the Subcontractors. 

Look, I have no idea who Eric is, what type of person he is but I will say after a quick search I saw that he did in fact sell his company for MAJOR $$$ and that he is active in Section 8, no idea if his course is good or garbage but still felt the urge to respond because I am so tired of hearing SCAMMER, find it online to EVERY SINGLE post asking about any course. anyone who actually sells their business and nets 110 mil is NOT going to dive into Section 8 or any real estate for that matter other than fine personal residences etc.. they retire and spend it.. so I dont think so.Plus section 8 is simply not complicated its run by the Sec 8 folks in each city.. nothing magical about that.. its a tough way to go being a section 8 landlord lots of drama.

I would still use quickbooks to track the finances in that account snd all rental associated finances (we use it to track are personal finances also). by the way it is worth the cost of paying someone good with quickbooks to do the initial setup.  

Basic staging with an agent usually means they give you insight into how you should:Declutter and depersonalize by removing photos and personal itemsArrange your furniture to improve the room’s flow and make it feel biggerAdd plants, move art, or re-arrange other accessoriesFull-service staging is another option if your house needs more hands-on attention.

Explore my personal favorites, Set For Life by Scott Trench or The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, for invaluable financial insights.3.

If the IP addresses are the same for each signee, then there is a chance that the same person signed.