Now that is taken care of; time to address the renter's insurance.As mentioned by someone above, you can be listed on the policy as insured or interested party.  

The other thing that concerns me is you mention that you are both high income earners but that you are “trying” to save an emergency fund.

@Jerry Tello I should have mentioned the laws and how they affect your returns vary tremendously from state to state, and sometimes county to county.

@David F.As Russell mentioned co-ops are probably 1/2 the price of a condo and you would also have extensive costs to set up a co-op and typically it’s my understanding the builder funds the first 1-2 years of reserves.

When you mention "ready for rentals", what does that mean to you?

Book recommendation #1: Hands Off Investor by @Brian Burke https://store.biggerpockets.com/products/the-hands-off-inves...Book recommendation #2: Lend to Live https://store.biggerpockets.com/products/lend-to-livePodcast Recommendation: PassivePockets podcast is focused on passive investing in syndications - https://passivepockets.com/podcast/Passive investing summit: PassivePockets Summit May 2-3rd in Columbus https://get.biggerpockets.com/passivepocketsevent/I make these recommendations specifically since you mentioned passive real estate investing, and syndications or hard money lending are really the two most passive ways to invest in real estate. 

For that period PS only provided 51% (3746/7259) of the leads available within the county records for that periodAcross all 3states for the 167 counties compared PS provided only 38% of the leads available within the county records for that period.I also found that  PS data was at least 2 weeks behind county data across all counties I mentioned above.

Hey Hey @Veronica Mitchell - The most simple advice is to follow the CTA trainlines.I personally love the South East Corridor of Chicago which has Bronzesville, Kenwood, Washington Park, Hyde Park, Woodlawn, and South Shore.That area will continue to be gentrified because you have the lakefront and CTA trains.Others mentioned NW along the Blue and West along the Pink, Green, and Blue lines.

There was no mention or remorse for past declarations, which were pretty set in stone per the loan offer and his communication.

This leads me back to my mother, as she approaches her end years, I hate to think about this, but she wants to leave my sister and I one of the houses I mentioned earlier.