So, if I choose to get paid a certain way, not by a commission, I could most likely do it, correct? 

For bookkeeping purposes for our clients, we usually do an 80 (building) / 20 (land) split until we have the correct figures from the county records (it takes some time for those to post sometimes).

For the pre-foreclosure properties, the realtor said it took a lot of time to deal with the owner with a big uncertainties so they can't help with those properties either.Please give me some advise on how to use foreclosure.com to find deals correctly.

2) If the lease that the tenant agreed to included them maintaining the front yard/ landscaping - is it reasonable to deduct a 1 time yard clean-up from their security deposit? 

You need to maintain a reserve to handle unexpected costs in the first year.How much should you maintain in the reserve? 

To thrive in real estate investing, you must maintain a firm grip on your finances.

Because banks know that investors/tenants don’t maintain properties as well, and fight needed reserves and assessments — don’t even think of arguing against the fact).

Plus with House Hacks it is about reducing living expenses and getting into investing at a lower down payment and better interest rate.With this said, what people are saying is correct.

@nicholas Coulter is correct that the tankless require more maintenance than tanked heaters and the effort is more.  

I think I'll just pay some sort of consultation fee and have a engineer or architect review them and make any necessary corrections.