@Lalaine Hagler There are a ton of places to run background checks on perspective tenants.Be sure that in addition to a credit check you go through a service that will provide you with criminal background & an eviction check as well.Credit by itself in my experience is not the end all be all when evaluating tenants. 

And then for some reason there is an apartment that is accessible from the other street so that's the 4th address for the same physical building.I am wondering what is required from a tax perspective and what is recommended from a sanity and business perspective for tracking expenses and reporting them to the IRS due to the different addresses?

My 2 cents.1) Lose the curtain and install cheap fresh white blinds.2) Take out the carpet and refinish the hardwood floors underneath.

But I look at it as a life styly not work so in that perspective Its been great for me. 

@John Montgomery Congrats on getting close to negotiating your first deal...I would say the most important thing is to "know your objective"...There are a lot of great answers on this thread, but ultimately we are all making "shots in the dark" as to the best option for you because it's our perspective...This is still valuable, but can become very confusing because you don't know each person's perspective...MY Suggestion is to know your goal over the next 3-5 years...I will let you know a little about my perspective...I am a Rehabber and Have Been Buying and Rehabbing over the past 8 years here in Chicago...I've been in your shoes...I wanted to be the Big Shot and rehab deals straight out the gate(Little to No Money & No Experience but a few REI Boot Camps- basically No Experience)...To say I've had a lot of Failures during my 14 years of being involved in studying REI is an Understatement...If I was starting all over again, and my objective is to be able to build a robust REI Biz that can allow me to rehab 6-12 homes a year, wholesale 2-3 properties per month, and build a rental portfolio...I would first focus on getting good at one objective first...Generally most people start out wholesaling because it doesn't require the money or experience rehabbing or landlording requires...I would start with Wholesaling...go find 5-10 very good rehabbers and find out their Criteria for a Great Deal...Commit to building Value for them and ultimately a great relationship.With this you will already have buyers lined up, you know what areas to look for properties in, and you can research public record and see what they are paying for properties on the acquisition(and also ask them, but keep them honest by researching public record)...At this point become the best wholesaler to these rehabbers...you will learn a lot just in this process alone...How to evaluate Comps, Repair Values, Neighborhoods, etc...Which a great wholesaler will know how to do...It will make your deals easier to sell...Ultimately I would see which one of these Rehabber will be open to the idea of partnering/mentoring me on how to get into that arena...They may even allow you to follow the progress of their deals...Every deal has its surprises and over the course of 10-20 deals you will get a real life idea of what those surprises are, and even understand the "reason why" you calculate certain contingencies into deals and also what are the most costly mistakes or repairs to look for and avoid on deals...The value of this Experience will accelerate your learning curve...In my experience one mistake for a beginner can cost you a ton of money and even put you out of the rehab business.There is no way you can learn all the mistakes you must avoid by reading a book or taking a 3-day training program. 

My name is Kyle and I'm pretty fresh to real estate investing.

@Nat Chan Sounds like a stellar PM from my perspective as well.  

Perhaps a realtor can pitch in from his or her perspective.

I have contacted other mortgage brokers to get additional perspectives. 

An architect can help from a strictly spacial perspective, but they're generally constrained by other items in many locales.