Financing for a 5+ unit is much different, so ensure you understand the lender requirements.

Then choose only houses, change from for sale to already sold in. the last 3-6 months ensure you put 3 beds up to baths.

is there a list of professional/commercial firms who could verify the property and ensure the physical  status of it, to ensure there is nothing major needs maintenance,

Typically, we demo all the drywall to take a peek behind to ensure insulation is up to code anyway, but I can understand as this a 70s house, therefore you may be fine. 

I'm in Washington DC so I want to also ensure I'm conducting business lawfully as well.Any insight, best practices, or rules if thumb you can share on this area would be greatly appreciated!

Just make sure your insurance carrier can get it done right.In either case, you will need to have solid paperwork signed at closing to ensure you have the ability to cash an insurance check if you ever file a claim, namely a limited power-of-attorney from the borrower to your title-holding entity.

Your Canadian partner should really sit down with a Canadian accountant who specialises in cross-boarder business before signing on to ensure that he won't be incurring extra taxation.

Developed programs that created investors from people with no money - the best type of buyers instead of cash buyers - as that way profit is 5 to 10 times greater.Also developed an acquisition program for targeting single family homes in order to ensure all profit is tax free (legally)

I also require a lender's title policy, clean title, and only lend to LLCs to ensure I avoid SAFE law issues if the borrower flakes out.

I also take the step to Google and Facebook search the managers phone number to see if it resolves the real business name in search results to ensure authenticity and may lookup the managers name on LinkedIn to see if it’s a real person.