That's what I'm currently looking for as I search for deals.

One thing that did provide some reassurance is that we took the initiative to verify they own the property through a county property search.

If you don't do anything within the software, maybe only your bookkeeper needs the software and he/she can print out the reports for you.If you want access, then you and the bookkeeper would need the desktop version and possibly a shared folder like google drive to share the quickbooks file.Intuit used to sell the quickbooks desktop(one time purchase).

Also If the names are correct i searched dca database and found neither license listed under the name or business. 

Behind referral on on-line sources like Next door, Google review, FB marketplace, etc.  

You can also find real estate investing groups through meetup.com, Facebook, or a Google search.

It would likely be comparable to what you pay in the NE.Just google "Lexington County tax estimator" or whatever county you're interested in and you'll usually find a web tool from the County you can use to estimate the tax bill based on the previous year's assessments.There is also a law called the ATI tax exemption that can potentially lower than 6% rate by 25%.

Yes both states have licensing requirements for contractors and subcontractors which can be found with a simple google search

You can access that article here https://naahq.org/application-fraud-search-silver-bulletsRegarding Chicago and Section 8, YIKES! 

They target YOU.When people need a solution to their problem, they go to Google.