Either way, I suppose it's a good idea. 

If your agent isn't knowedgable they can over or undersell you and that will affect your costs.An umbrealla policy was reccomended to me by my agent (a family member) and in general I think it is a really good idea and usually a  pretty cheap option for risk mitigation.I don't have a specific company to reccomend but hopefully this was helpful.

also look at how much your expenses have been for the last couple of years to get an idea of 'normal' costs.  

some ideas:- yes you could put more money down upfront, even though it's not ideal.- Look for off-market deals that are much cheaper,  using hard money and then refinancing with a rental loan.- Find properties where the owner will finance most of it, so you only need a smaller loan with the higher interest for the down payment.- Take over a property where you can continue the seller’s lower interest payments.- Another thought to give why would you want to do a rental at all, I mean those terms are horrible. why not buy something else with a better return on invest?

I currently have saved a lump sum of money...

Will definitely save the information.

A thorough inspection is crucial and understand the difference between maintenance and bigger capital expenditures (capex) that you will need to save for. 

Regarding messaging, I have my welcome message, checkout message, thanks for booking message, and quick check-in message all saved on the notes of my phone. 

I had called my two local Title Companys and asked them and one had no idea what i was talking about!

So this guy advertises his "7 day sale" system; you can listen to 1.5 hour audio here:http://7daysaleguy.com/replay.htmlThe idea is simple:1) Get a quality property under contract.