I recently have been more interested in section 8 rentals, which make me feel even less prepared and unaware of what I do not know.

;-) To be honest, the MBA does not prepare you for that area of business in my opinion.

We don’t anticipate this happening however, you need to prepare for every scenario.

over 20yrs prepared and file my own returns, but financials became more complicated so I had to turn to an accounting firm. 

Just be prepared for negotiations, as the owner might be hoping to recoup some of the costs from the remodel.

When I told her this wasn’t allowed, she asked what part of the lease prevented it (there wasn’t anything in the lease that prevented it) …needless to say, I changed my lease to clearly state that each room in the house was single occupancy, and that there were limits on the frequency of guests (you live and you learn).This is by no means an exhaustive list of house hacking tips/tricks, it’s just what came to mind…It’s also worth remembering that, even with extensive preparation, house hacking can be challenging, and things WILL go wrong (e.g.; inconsiderate housemates, broken leases, furnaces that kick the bucket at the WORST possible time, etc., etc.).

Maybe this is normal but it seemed ridiculous to expect someone to keep their job(s) and pay rentSince it seemed I was left with no option except to plan on getting prepared to pay March and get the house in good shape so my deposit would be returned and bite the bullet.

My loan feel through because I didn't have enough time in the army to use the VA loan and I was counting on it the whole time so since that feel through I hade to go the FHA rout witch increased my interest rate 1.3 percent and on top of that I now have to pay PMI and if I had been planning more than one loan in the begging I would have been prepared Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Does anyone have any suggestions on what we can do next to better prepare ourselves for the journey ahead?

Rent rolls aren’t always relinquished by the seller, some of them don’t have them even prepared.