First of all....Don't worry about it, most investors have the same problems (and persuading the wife to come on-board is one of the common one).I can provide couple of tips that will ease the process:1.

I learned a lot by managing my units myself, but as I grow I'm ready to scale and the only way to do that is to hire a PM or bring someone on board as an employee to help manage. 

That being said, I would absolutely get your current tenants on board and make sure those existing leases are up-to-date, and that any leases you put in place for the garages are iron-clad as well.

It got my wife on board with investing more and helped her get over her fear of investing.

If I need to have the financial backing of a lender/partner in order to approach seller, and in order to get that don't  I need to be able to show numbers to a potential lender/partner, and I can't make contact with seller until I am ready and my ducks are in a row how can I get a rehab estimate so my numbers are accurate, so I can present those to potential lender/partner to sign on board to get my ducks in a row so I can get into the house to see what the rehab will be. 

I have a potential opportunity to partner with a new development company that has equity backing, construction lender, GC and Asset Manager on board and are building their first projects in one city currently. 

My idea of a hack is to live here at 325/month, that I have to pay, whether or not I'm onboard (fixed unavoidable cost).

They'll all promise two weeks but focus on the timeline, the process for inspection and appraisal, and ask them when they actually start counting days--the onboarding process.

Here are some things to consider:- Do you want to learn about REI or just be a passenger on someone else's plane? 

, I have brought on board a good friend that was head of maintenace for the largest property management company here for many years until he retired.