Please don’t choose a first property that is going to suck you dry and cause you to give up.

I’m largely sorting out how much reserve income I need, for incase work goes dry and I have to keep paying off the property.Would you recommend I run numbers on that first, or is it better to get a lenders input?

You will want to perform a proper dry out of all materials and replace as needed, treat the area and have the lid put back together of the downstairs unit.

I have a tenant whose condo suffered a major roof leak, which caused internal dry wall and related damage.

Long story short, they recommend a process that basically looks like...Soil scientist --> (septic engineer IF needed) --> site plan --> county approval...We've spoken to a few soil scientists and they all quote 2k-5k to analyze the property for an appropriately sized septic system. 

I have concerns that renter will not do whatever is necessary to remove and replace the soil which was saturated with dog urine.

Bleach with some dawn added , put it in a pump up sprayer and soak the floor and let it dry , then pressure wash the floor . ( Wear a good mask and have the doors open while doing it 

A state like California that has ocean, wooded forests, flat land that would be good farm land if it were not for water issues, and hot, dry desert all within a single state has many different markets.  

I noted numerous times that the more people add to the thread, the higher it will rank on Google and potential surpass the own company, but still, ye persist.Who in the world drops into a forum to dry run the leg of a company that the "believe they will be signing up for in the very near future."

Of course you can be passive and buy performing stuff and get nice returns but when people are having courses that show you how to make a few hundred grand a year in notes people get all excited and rush to the well only to realize it’s dry and you need to work to fill it.