Hey Chris, congrats on the hands on learning process!

I am in the process of educating myself on options. 

:) A good agent will meet up with you for a few hours, and along with educating you on the entire buying process (financing, contracts, inspections, what to expect in negotiations, etc) they will also be able to guide you by running comps and telling you if the home is priced well, as well as discovering any issues preventing the property from selling (liens, disputes)...Not sure about CA and AZ, But I have a buddy who renovated his dental office without pulling permits, and when the city found out, they made him literally gut it and redo it with permits.I would urge you having some conversations with agents in your area. interview a couple, and they should guide you in the right direction.

Create new LLCs for joint ventures using the same process.

If you are not familiar with the process I would look at articles/videos to understand the process.

An LLC is nice but you should have documentation and process around member duties, how to liquidate one's ownership and how you will exit properties to name a few.

The sales process should not be fast have they been preparing for their exit?  

Just soaking up and processing information right now. 

Maintenance coordination, rent collection, accounting, showings, application processing, etc. is conducted from my office.

What some pitfalls you've experienced that now you are diligent in your hiring process?