Hi Jason,Syndication (pooling  investor money) and partnering with folks that have the balance sheet (rent their portfolio) to give them a piece of the sponsorship / general partnership is a way he may have gone. 

In this case, I was able to piece together enough to get comfortable with the risk. 

I expect there are some in the "for sale - join my investing course for $2000 to $50000" packages, but I would think there has to be something out there to get started with that doesn't require 3000 hours of reading to piece-meal from 3000 topics.At any rate, more importantly than that, for all of you heavy hitters and longtime investors that have seen it all before, what would you tell yourself to watch out for, if you could go back and tell yourself when you were just getting started to be watchful for?

Furnish all the bedrooms (Craigslist $100-300 per bed with preowned mattress, buy $10-20 mattress cover, $10 lamp, $50 dresser or nightstand) and provide the kitchens with basic supplies (Walmart $20 4 piece set, $10 silverware, maybe some pots or not, can buy 1 multipiece set and split it between your units)Install Schlage Camelot electronic Door Code locks on the door ($100 Amazon-no lockouts) or a lockbox ($25) with backup keysPost on Nextdoor and Craigslist looking for a “house Mom” / Cleaner who will clean units between guests for $20/turnover.

A big piece of that for me is really understanding how the money is working with each property.

Last piece of advice, if you have to go through a re-zone or variance process, reach out to the local neighborhood associations and/or adjacent property owners to garner support. 

Another distinct possibility: Your numbers are wrong. 

She was a piece of work, nut case from start to finish.

If you cannot obtain these from the seller, then you will either need to construct them yourself from piecing together bank statements and receipts (sounds fun right?)

I would like to try something different with a piece of property I want to buy.