The tenant may not have the long term interest (skin as you mention) in the property condition so you have to protect your interest with these inspections.

I always do find it funny though the people who have zero assets and that are worried about asset protection.

So the ideas about future education or switches would be personal decisions I suspect...On the investing side, real estate has been a worthwhile (and even profitable) part of my life (but it is no magic formula for happiness or anything).So you could see if a property (maybe think about a duplex, triplex or fourplex) would pencil out and you could even make a unit your home a short time and later rent that unit out, too, and buy another property (or just live On the Road!)......

If you open the door the drum stops (door switch works fine).  

The ones taking the risk, the homeowners/investors and in AZ we have laws to protect them.

Quick hypothetical question for Tax Pro's out there:If you have purchased a lot to build a home on, when does the one-year clock start to switch from short term to long term capital gains?

I want to learn as much as possible and am considering switching careers and working for a property management company to learn the business. 

Are you trying to build another job until you can switch career fields and work in RE?

Full disclosure: I am a newbie with no entities of my own.Per the podcasts I've heard related to entities, there is no harm in flipping a few in your name, before worrying about asset protection.

This lets the tenant know, hey I have someone out there to protect me, and I am ok with reaching out to them if needed.