The cashflow should cove ALL of the expenses for the primary (mortgage, taxes, insurance, utilities, etc) AND put money in their pocket.

That's not even the tip of the iceberg; it's so far away.

Also any tips for automating this as much as possible and how to protect the property financially and property management would be appreciated.I ALMOST understand the rental arbitrage strategy if building a company scaling with say 30 + units and looking for high short term cash flow.  

What are your best tips for screening tenants, especially for student renters?

but keep in mind CA has higher taxes and reg fees and I’m not doing more than 1-2 flips (short timeframe flips)  a year and many years do 0 flipsDo most flippers put flips into LLC Or in personal name (sole proprietor)  in CA (where you must pay $800 yearly plus accounting and other fees $300to $600+ yearly to maintain LLC) Pros for personal name-save on taxes accounting.

I’d love to hear your tips, lessons learned, or even beginner mistakes to avoid.

Welcome to the community and be ready for a huge amount of information at your finger tips.

Everytime you get close to depreciation running out (or want more) you 1031, expand your holdings, and your tax write off. 

Just trying to gather as much information and tips as i can

I'm looking for the cleanest & most visible way to access payment history, see amortization schedule, tax documents, etc- much like bank softwares provide.