Anything smaller makes it harder to get them washed properly.Check out the Yale Appliance Blog - https://blog.yaleappliance.com/They cover all sorts of topics about appliances.

But I like the idea of finding someone to help analyze and assess risk!

Option 1 - Cash out Refi Rental ProtertyOption 2 - Sell Property Option 3 - your ideas.

It is always better to start with a multi-unit 2+ so that if something goes wrong, you still have one tenant to cover necessary expenses (mort, taxes, insur, etc).Also, major renovations are not a great idea for starting out as others said, especially out of state.

I've got a pretty good idea of how I'd like it structured (terms) but I'm not finding any forms, or even examples of forms, to use. 

Your accountant probably sees your idea of going forth this way as a waste of money, and without knowing what those costs are in California I'd probably agree with him.  

Taking a loan against your 401k/equity in your home is a good idea, but needs to be utilized correctly.

That's a good idea!

Account managers have literally no idea about day-to-day operations and glaze over specific questions asked to delay and confuse owners. 

But what you stated seems like it could be a good idea.