James, I am also starting my investing venture in Metro Detroit (not right in the city but close).

I would venture to guess that even if you live with 10 roommates right now... you are probably paying more than $313 for rent

Say I have a pretty decent amount of money saved towards this venture, is there any specific advice you can offer about how to initially approach networking with lenders and agents?

As your research will have shown you Spokane is experiencing something of a boom right now with strong property price appreciation (even through the current COVID 19 pandemic) and an ever increasing number of people moving to Spokane seeking homes to buy and quality places to rent.I'm working with a number of investors and people relocating from CA right now and would be very interested to hear more about your goals, metrics you're looking for, etcGood luck with your REI ventures!

For example, does it make sense to create a partnership or LLC, or is it sufficient to own the property as tenants-in-common and execute a joint venture agreement that governs our operations?

I don’t think it’s easy to get 1% now.I'd venture to say it's impossible to get 1% in Tampa.

What are your ultimate goals with your real estate investing ventures? 

How to simplify it all: Know the market, know the strategy, know the risk, assign a value for the venture. 

Thank you @Joe Aiola for the mention- I hope your ventures are going well.

But you just came into a pile of money that somebody left you to hopefully improve you and your family's future, and I don't know if using it all to invest in an unknown business venture that you have zero experience with would be the most valuable use of that money.