Your savings is good, but your income won't support that many properties if you do them wrong and need to carry 15k min reserves for each one.Focus on what the next property should be, maybe upgrade to a two-family and see how that goes.

If your hvac contractor tries to sell you a new furnace by telling you it’s more efficient and over one you may save money via energy savings, less repairs, etc that’s fair.

Creating a new LLC for each property can be costly in Ohio, so consolidating can save you money and hassle.

So definitely save your back, and get a sprayer. 

Save your seed money and invest in a different program if you need the hand holding.

This seems very appealing due to the monthly saving cost when compared to a heloc or other loan options.

Or should I save up separately for my first rental property and keep my personal residence out of this?

You can save that amount or more simply by designing and specifying the right foundation, exterior facade assembly and/or roof system.

I have a savings that will offset these costs, it’s just seemingly one thing after another.

I would save copies of their changes for your records.