I'm looking for asset protection, tax avoidance and a way to pass the business to my heirs as smoothly as possible. 

I think this will go more smoothly than you think, so long as you give some respect and be nice.

He is a funny writer too. 

So I'm just looking for any last minute advice from you all that might help make sure I make a smooth transition into landlord and make the transition for the tenants as smooth as possible.Any and all advice, tips and tricks are welcomeThanks!

The very worst you can get is a guy with a lot of cocksure overconfidence and and a smallish, smooth sort of brain, one particularly susceptible to the Dunning-Kruger effect who fancies that he came out of his mother with "skilz" and has no need of learning any now.

You can (and should) hire people to do the actual contractor work -- you should focus on learning:-  Deal analysis-  Cash flow management-  Financing-  Hiring-  Managing-  Bookkeeping-  Acquisition Marketing-  Contracts/Agreements-  Creating/Documenting ProcessesIf you focus on these things -- and hire really smart and competent people to focus on the rehab work -- you'll find that your business runs a lot more smoothly than if you're just focused on the rehabbing.

If I file those 1040s and have 2 years of self-employment income then will that sail smooth with underwriting or will that be kind of sketchy? 

But I don't think it's a bad choice for these kind of situations, just to keep things smoothly rolling along. 

They will clean it and make sure its nice and smooth.

Whenever you are buying a property out of state you should do a few things to ensure it's as smooth as possible.Don't buy in the roughest neighborhood in the urban core.