Please feel free to reach out with stories, advice, or any tips in general, and I'm definitely open to meeting people as I begin to get into the world of rental properties.  

Any tips on getting started or resources I could look at?

If they are planning to be rolling around in Bentleys like Wall Street banker, they wont last long, but if their prices stay within average or better, who cares, your saving money if you know it or not.If your flip can't support a fair price, your not doing to good as an investor, it's not the vendors fault you overpaid for a property and can't pay market for work to repair it. 

Any time there was something I wasn't satisfied with, I could just call my contact at HD and they would take care of it.

Take care!

Be careful.

I have a good accountant already.Also looking for alternative financing.I can offer some very good tips on how to fix your own credit if anyone is interested.I am not a credit repair company.

This is a single family, I assume, and is it common in the area for the tenant to pay water and sewer and also care for the property?

It is a small, well taken care of beach cabin, two blocks from the beach, in a great summer vacation area... winter not so much. 

I carefully go through the resumes and conduct a phone screen with qualified people.