I would love to hear some war stories, as any positive feedback, lessons i can gain from others would be truly valuable to my upcoming journey. 

Exist positive cash flow from day 1 is very important to building towards retirement. 

Second, the point of posting a property for rent is to receive inquiries, so if you are not in a position to promptly respond to them and show the home, you may consider hiring a professional management company to do this for you.

This property has positive cash flow and we aren’t urged to sell.

So they're being excessively conservative, in my opinion.As long as your CPA agrees with my position (does not matter which spouse or both own the property) and is willing to defend it before the IRS - you're good. 

Would you let random members of the public go wandering through your home without being accompanied by someone in a position of responsibility?

Just be sure to explain to them the difference (risks vs rewards) of being in lien position and being on title.

However, I know some CPAs take the position that if you are getting it into a condition to be rented out, and it is rented out that calendar year, then it was in service the whole time.In regards to whether you can deduct your own labor, in general no.  

I often had distrust towards hospitals because I never knew what the amount I was going to need to pay would be after going to the hospital; and it always seemed to be hundreds or thousands of dollars more than expected.Thanks to the financial security that real estate can provide, I am in a different financial position now compared to where I was 4 years ago.

I anticipate a good appraisal based on comps in the area, so i would be in a position where i could get back all the money i have invested in the property + some.