Thank you for all the tips an I am a learner of life trying to get all the knowledge i can get. 

Try to anticipate other potential avoidable situations with a follow up inspection to assess the Locksmith’s work and ask your tenant(s) if you can also use the time to assess for other issues such as unchanged HVAC filters, leaky pipes, working shutoff valves, working smoke detector batteries, properly working downspouts, clogged dryer vents, evidence of water damage from leaking roof, etc,etc,etc.

The bank and mortgage company we are using is giving us a hard time about us co-signing due to my separation and new job due to only having been separated a couple weeks now.

But at the same time, it could relieve our financial burden and set us up for future investments.What would you do in this situation?

The first time this happened, the board of directors got an email showing trash everywhere, and HOA management offered to get "their people" out there to clean asap. 

Quote from @Milly Owens: You may be right James, then again you would have a hard time convincing Asser...since the program reimbursed him his initial investment of $1,000 and then paid him $10,000 for the lead!

For a first time investor, I definitely recommend house hacking for most people as homeowner loans are by far the best in terms of rate and LTV. 

Our team has been pounding the pulpit for five years about how favorable our tax brackets are and helping clients conduct moves such as IRA to ROTH IRA conversions in order to take advantage of the current tax deal of our lifetime.

They build up the deposit over time 

When you own a couple of units, the odds of there being unexpected vacancies that overlap each other are usually low, but when you acquire more and more real estate, the odds of tenants moving out around similar times increases.