Lacey asked for $20K for furnishings and another $10K to convert the garage to a play room and add a pool heater.

Check out other online guides available here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/guides3.

Newspapers are dead and bringing them all online has only lessened the true journalistic impact which is why you see good writers writing about stuff they just reviewed, but do not know.

I feel my largest use will be online rent collection as well as tenant screening.

Assuming the property owner isn't playing games, why would an independent appraiser inflate the value? 

Focus on Cash Flow Early On:While appreciation is the long-term play, as a beginner, I'd recommend focusing on cash-flowing properties to provide you with a safety net and help you ride out any market fluctuations.

I personally dont know where title insurance comes into play with these either if your not recording a debt instrument and then getting a lenders Alta

So it isn't a complete waste, you would simply need to follow the strict reading of the law with no private clauses for consideration...I'm not sure how that plays out since technically if the lease is void, so is the tenancy meaning you could terminate anytime and not wait for the original lease expiration...I'm sure that's covered somewhere, but again I'd ask my local atty what to do given this is such a locally specific issue. 

Needless to say, I've been scouring for information on YouTube, BiggerPockets, online websites etc.

James Wise called you out on ties/ownership in this PM entity, and you played word-salad games trying to pretend had no connections to it.