Be prepared to negotiate and walk away from unfavorable terms.

I’m preparing for my retirement by getting into real estate 

If the water would have came back bad we were prepared to replace the pipe but was told this repair would be around $8K. 

I'd share that if I did, I'd be prepared to pay them to vacate.

You just buy as many as you can and then figure it out, there is no way to prepare, you just deal with it.

How can I best prepare for managing two rental properties, including handling maintenance, vacancies, and tenants?

If you pick a random OOS city to buy in, based on numbers an agent or wholesaler is telling you or "it's a great market to invest in" and don't know the area, prepare to have lots of cash reserves and to lose money especially Class C. - what's a great market to invest in for one person isn't for another investor.

Half the time they may not even realize they are acting as the GC and have that added responsibility or what that entails.

However, the reality has proven to be quite different, and I am feeling deceived and deeply frustrated.I am prepared to pursue this matter further, including with media outlets if necessary.

As a former planning commissioner the people AGAINST projects are the loudest so you want to make sure you have a good pulse on what your neighbors and the louder people at public hearings stand so you can be prepared ahead of time.