I’ll just have to move faster on the next one...I do have the deceased lady’s cat as a consolation prize?

Good to have family connections that might know local contractors, areas to watch for, etc. 

I'm sitting on the back porch watching the palm trees dance.

If you've watched several podcasts you'll be fine, not a huge investment so it's a great way to get your feet wet.

Problem with that might be that your GC won't watch the prices on labor which is ridiculously high right now: these mandatory 3 estimates on big jobs might be from couple overpriced big companies and one lower from a friendly company to your GC.You first need to build relationship in the area to know what the prices are generally: labor, materials, location of the property, desired finishes.The last note: good properties go with much higher prices than min bid, because of very competitive market.If you buy a property for $100K, it will be totally different rehab cost, quality of finishes etc than a property for $500.

As I've said elsewhere on these forums, watch out for someone who is making more money from selling real estate advice than from actual real estate investing.  

Just read your whole story and watched it all come together.

I recommend watching the video which can be found here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?

I watched a webinar the other night by bigger pockets and the presenter showed a buying houses for a low cost (75,000) and renting for about 1000 USD.  

I've scouted out a few properties just to watch the process.