I'm wondering if there are any good platforms out there that are free (that offer real estate books and not just "classics").

Laura,Tons of forums on this topic on BP (try searches on "screening", etc)...People will and have chimed in with their process and recipe....Also, you may want to also look broadly at the renting and tenant onboarding process (I have a few classic buy and hold landlording books on a blog post, all should be free at library or low cost at used bookstore).....Best of luck!

these were classic cases of chasing yield into unfamiliar territory and tenant demographics.. 

Some of those practical details on the buy and hold side are in books I mentioned in a blog post on the classics of landlord literature...

Scott Carson had a november 15th BP blog with some must reads, I listed some classics of landlord literature in a blog post (see right side of my profile)...

And I have a short blog post on some classic books on landlording (on right side of my profile) that should be free at a library or low cost used...thanks for your service, too, btw...

You may want to decide between the more steady buy and hold or the faster pace flip to help pick a property and strategy...perhaps a full flip book like those on BP if that is the course and I have some low cost or free (at library) books on landlording if that is the next stop,in journey (see the blog post "classics of lanldord lit" on my profile)...BP has calculators for both strategies....

This is a classic chicken and egg scenario.

To make a long story short, he made a classic error and commingled funds a few years prior and opened him up to liability.

Let me know if you want any good starters...I am more into the practical ones (like a classic Leigh Robinson Landlording type book) ...many great ones out there...Best of luck