Barrow it from your mom, uncle, cousin, grandpa, or the lady nextdoor.  

My uncle is part of the RHA and has found it helpful https://www.rhawa.org/I keep meaning to check it out but haven't since I can get so much second hand information off of him and others I know in real estate.

it may not be your parent… maybe it is an aunt or an uncle or a grand mother who you can educate about real estate and get them excited too?  

So, this is putting him in the position to have to look at the possibility of doing a 1031 exchange on the 2.5 - 3.0 million that would otherwise be taxed at capital gain rates (he wants to avoid paying Uncle Sam at all costs).

Quote from @Roger D Jones: Decks, porches and skirting will be significant. 

@Taylor Witt @Roger Sandmann From my experience Menards and Floor and Decor tends to have the best retail prices for flooring.

On the other hand, private lender investors, like an "Uncle Joe" type, lend money on a more personal and flexible basis, often with less formal terms that can be easily negotiated.

Thank you so much for all that information Roger!

Any company insuring your properties without an inspection most likely has a clause buried deep in their policy allowing them to deny claims for conditions found on the property that do not meet their UW standards and they will deny you claim based on "the house should have not been insured with them anyway".Although the inspections can be annoying look at it from the other side.You pay them 1000 to 3000 a year to insure a rental property where they agree to pay out possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars if it burns down or up to 1 million if a tenant slips on a bananna peel and falls down the steps or the tenants dog bites someone and since you didn't enforce the tenant having their own renters policy to cover the dog bite the landlord's policy is paying out.The insurance company is very much like your rich uncle backing your business venture - you run the business, he takes on the financial risk from disasters, and doesn't even get a say in who lives in the property.Your rich uncle asking you to fix the steps, put up a handrail, etc which is in your and his best interest long term.Do you really want to rent out a property with a busted front step and a bad roof that is going to leak sooner than later?

As a beginner, you can learn a lot from your uncle with a few rentals in another state or a co-worker who's on their second house hack.