The property owner's tax professional can help them with that and ensure they don't pay taxes twice on the same income.Disclaimer: My advice/opinion in this post is just that, my opinion.

Fannie Mae will allow you to transfer the deed to an LLC if you decide to try to go the conventional route, but the loan would still be in your names and you'll need to pay a title company a second time post-closing to do this  for you. 3) I can't speak for the area so no comment there4) If you're self managing, make sure you find vendors you can trust in the area since you won't be able to easily verify if an HVAC guy, plumber, etc. is trying to rip you off and tell you to buy something you don't actually need. 5) Make sure you have clear alignment of goals and a clear operating agreement that spells out what to do if those goals start to not align in the future since you'll be jointly obligated to these properties. 

If your willing to do so, you can live in the casita and then rent out the main home and have your tenant pay the majority/all of the mortgage (depending on what type of deal you find obviously). 

If you truly are limited on time or can't make investing a priority, you should look for smaller projects as others have recommended.1) General Contractors are available to run your project, but most are too expensive to make ROI work on smaller projects. 2) A great PMC can act as a Project Coordinator for rehabs, but many won't be transparent about the costs, so you know what you are paying for.

Most will approve after 30 days of pay stubs.

They are essentially giving the property to you at fair market price, so someone is going to need to pay taxes on that fair market price.

See if you will have to pay for recapture.  

I would buy something closer to turn key if you can, even if you pay up, because it will reduce the work you have to do and figure out as a new large-scale investor.

I know they say you get what you pay for but I am impressed with this STR PM, and I use Steesa and Innago. 

Some PMC's will charge a lower percentage fee, but will charge it whether tenant paying or not.