The way to finance closing costs is offer aggressively and with FHA you can ask the Seller to pay up to 6% of the sale price for your closing costs & prepaid items like an entire first years worth of home insurance, attorney fee etc.

They are depreciated just like any other item on a tax return.

Typical expenses of a property are: taxes, utilities, maintenance expenses, capital expenditures (big ticket items like roof, boiler replacement, etc.) and insurance.

You want a place for cutting, keeping tools, etc. without worrying about stepping over things or getting your personal items dusty.Hire contractors with good recommendations.  

I mean EVERYTHING; clothes in the closet still with new tags, unused kitchen items, tons of childrens clothes, furniture, etc. etc. etc..  

This will have additional items that may be required .  

Your personal deductions, whether you itemize on Schedule A or take the standard deduction, will not be affected by your investment.First time home buyer credits are only for owner occupied property, not for investment property.

And what if a section of flooring, or a countertop, or some other item in the house just needs a good clean instead of needing to be replaced?

Expenses such as mortgage interest, legal fees, property taxes, r&m, insurance, advertising, realtor and depreciation are items that would offset your rental income.

Working on a flip property and we have just a few more items to do so I put up a for sale by owner sign out front and a week later we have someone pre-approved for a FHA loan and working with a realtor.