Once a lender agrees to work with you and provides a pre-approval documentation, then I would begin reaching out to agents and see what property options are available within your chosen market.

I have seen more failures then success and thats because the investor doesn't have the skills I mentioned above and has chosen the wrong team or doesn't take advice well. 

If you as landlord are selecting the roommates and then one of them causes damage to another roommate's property or assaults another roommate,  you want to be sure that you're not liable for having chosen that roommate.Also, you'll have language that addresses common elements.

If you use Quickbooks or similar  your chosen bank is on their list of banks used, and it can make life easier for you.Just my 2 cents.

We have chosen to build new construction quads instead.

One is chosen and the others are held in backup position.

You may have chosen the other person based solely on income but they can still sue you and you would have costs defending that suit even if it is so baseless it's thrown out the first time it's in front of a judge. 

Inspectors usually charge any where from  $300-800 depending on the size of the property and what is included with the package chosen.

However, some state and local Fair Housing laws, such as Chicago's Fair Housing Ordinance, do prohibit discrimination based on source of income.If your city or state prohibits this type of discrimination, you cannot reject all Section 8 applicants outright.If you have multiple applicants, or are waiting for additional applicants, you are well within your right to not respond to anyone until all applicants have been submitted, and you have chosen the applicant that is most qualified, because there is no law that say you must call, or otherwise, anyone back, ever.  

Knowing the wwwwwh of your chosen locale is, I believe, critical.