A friend of hers was preparing for a nasty divorce and needed to unload a rental property that was in his name quickly.

You might not be the buyer but you're in the business of buying.A buyer for a company goes out to but lumber to add an addition or whatever to the warehouse.

As a few posters above have mentioned, you can get away with preparing your own taxes with a couple of rental properties; once you start scaling and growing your portfolio, it's time to outsource to a qualified professional.Not only does this (hopefully) give you some level of comfort and security, but it will free up your time and allow you to unload certain responsibilities and focus on building your business.Good luck with your search!

Quick back story; I was speaking with the owner of a 2 family home (not owner occupied) on the street where I live; he wants to unload the property and open to seller finance. 

The ones who broke down costs listed lumber costs as $27K. 

I'm learning there are very creative deals to be made as long as the seller is motivated to unload a property.Just curious- you stated you compiled a list of homes that were free and clear in your neighborhood.

You can have a conversation maybe as a prospective client (not being dishonest or trying to trick them of course) for the future and just ask if they know of any tired owners looking to unload to let you know.  

You have a place to live in for now and if the numbers don't work out the way you want them to as a rental down the road then you just unload it and get something that works better.

I just need to unload it so I'm selling for over $23K off of retail price.

Now, key point is the market's are so close that cost of tangible goods, lumber, roofing, etc. is in parity.