The majority of second generation loose their parents wealth.

Knowing that there is risk no matter what you do (sit on the cash, lose to inflation, bad investments loose the $$ ) so I am still on the fence about the right balance. 

Edgar,you started off in the right place, welcome to BP. there is a lot of information on this site, dig in and search at the top, with the blogs and podcasts in the Education section. any questions, just post them here on the Forums, someone is bound to have an answer for you.

I believe the current fix is to crimp on pigtails to all ends and replace the old switches and outlets... varies but think it is running $2500 to $5500 per house to correct... aluminum vibrates when it gets a little loose causing resistance and then heat.. hence the problem.lots of homes have black pipe or steel pipe water lines used a lot in older homes and it is OK but it rusts inside and then as the corrosion continues the pipe gets weak at the joints mostly and often can fill up  and restrict water flowall this being said I have seen extension cords run behind finished walls,  I have heard people removing 40amp breakers and replacing with 50amp breakers because the 40amp keeps tripping.  

Another downside is you loose on the advantages, of the Federal Tax Code, by not closing in the name of a LLC.

While it is possible that any contract with a  vendor or customer may contain an early termination clause and, transfer of ownership may be a condition which triggers the clause, the new owners are still bound to abide by the terms of the contract.   

You won't be bound by strict FHA appraisal standards (which have actually loosened just a bit in our area) since your buyer will be going conventional.  

The tenants you want will be attracted to that not scared away.A lot of that no screening and loose terms is a small town yankee thing.  

All tenants receive a bound handbook, "day 1" gift basket (with plastic ware, paper plates, etc.) and $15 pizza gift card upon move in.

I felt like I was loosing interest just analyzing properties I was finding on realtor.com.