I'm not a lawyer nor accountant, but I think birth mom or you (if deeded to you) would be liable.

Just having a Zillow account won't generate leads - you need to get 5 5-star ratings to boost you profile and make sure you are quick to respond to anything that does come through. 

Account Closed I'd say with those 2 books you are ready to move onto next steps which is: networking with investors in  your area, find an investory friendly agent, and start getting your financials into order. 

In that case and even if not you should have separate bank accounts for security deposits and operating funds.

Thanks for the Info, for me unfortationally  all my properties are located in the largest county Jefferson County and they love to put out of state big investor companies so they can put the extra money in their account and if you get behind on the propert taxes 1 year they require that you pay the overbid interest amount AND THE NEXT PROPERTY TAX BILL TO REDEEM,That's a big hard ship on the common resident to come up with 2 years of property taxes and Over Bid plus 12% interest dailyBlessings to All

@Marisa Faulkner also, make sure you account for self employment tax, which is an extra 15.3% tax on top of your regular income tax.

For case studies, go just North into the Silver Lake region of Wilmington, MA.  

A good strategy is to compare areas and see which best suits your situation and then become an expert in that neck of the woods - find the best investor-focused realtor, etc.About your second question, I am not a lawyer or accountant so you will need specialist advice there. 

I have been studying and reading various books as well as attending webinars and seminars for several months now on a daily basis.

Vanguard prime money market taxable brokerage account @ 2.16% 3.