Example:Tenant 1 -Applied first Has fair creditNo background issuesSome history of late payment.Tenant 2 -Applied secondHas Great creditNo background issuesNo history of late payment.Am I obligated to showing the house first to one tenant over the other?

Can't speak to a PM, but I ALWAYS show when not quite finished. 

I'm open to suggestions on beginner books to start on (just finished Rich Dad Poor Dad) and anything I can do to get started now (house hacking isn't an option for me).

Those risks are:     Late payments.

If it's a standard Lakewood up/down duplex it probably has a plaster ceiling under the ceiling tile-- at least all the ones I visited when my son was apartment hunting were plaster.IMO, the "nicest" fix (assuming the old plaster is in poor condition) is to scrape off the acoustic  tiles and then drywall over the old plaster with a smooth finish; the cheapest fix, if the only problem is the one tile you pictured, will be to screw up the tile(s) that is/are lose, cover the screw with a little joint compound and then primer and paint the ceiling; If you are lucky the tiles have already been painted before.

I've always had issues with tenants paying rent late, so i decided to take risk. 

Did a similar last year so intend to use the same products to finish.  

I have been trying to find an honest contractor to finish it out.Sorry...to your question...yes...I did separate the utilities and it was a bit a of a pain and an added expense that was more than I wanted to spend.

Problem is the current tenant is constantly paying late on the rent, and I have to chase him separately for the water, and usually, the excuse is  I can't find it, give me another copy.All in all, my rentals in NYC includes all utilities and all built into the rent, much simpler.

I’m flipping locally and just finished closing on a new project in La Mirada.