As a newbie myself, I can say that this is a great platform with ton of information for all investors.

Also, the work was done about 4 years ago and they have tenants during that time so it makes me think that the work that was done was legit. 

So as long as your trusted contractor says the work is legit, I think that is normal.

They should have never rented it out without making sure everything works....Who knows, maybe they did do a walk-through before renting it and everything worked fine but the pilot light happened to go out.....You'll never know and you'll also never know if these $100-$400 calls are legit or not. 

For government employees on official travel, use of the government travel card is generally strongly encouraged (from a legit fraud control perspective).

That way, the deposits are refunded back to the booking platform and then the guests re-book with you with new deposits.

The information on YT by their staff and CEO is legit, honest and helpful.

You'll be looking to cut as much as possible on legit expenses--you want to maximize cash flow--but a management fee should already be figured into your calculations and due-diligence before you pull the trigger on the buy.Good luck to you. 

I need to talk to tenants about setting up electronic payments through a certain platform and stick with it.

You can find sponsors who offer 506b investments on platforms like BP, or through networking as mentioned above, but make sure to take the time to establish a relationship with them.