Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

After that either party can end the lease for any reason.

One other thing that I am constantly seeing is the set it and forget it on 3rd party platforms.

If your friends have a rental they should hire a tax professional. 

There are thousands of websites out there that are disguised as helping the public find the best of the best but at the end of the day its simply taking your info and selling it to a 3rd party as a lead.If you are trying to buy a home or an investment property and you have good to excellent credit you should always use an FDIC Bank or Credit Union.

That would be a situation where you have a joint brokerage account with a family member(brotheror sister, etc) or for example you own a piece of real estate with another party.

Quote from @Andrea Lucarelli: I’m interested in beginning my REI career with purchasing a SFH or condo in Cleveland area (safe neighborhood) to list as a furnished rental for travel medical professionals, supply corporate housing needs, or house temporarily displaced families for insurance companies.  

@Jeanette LandI always recommend using a tax professional.

It may be worth having an experienced professional helping you and you could always try to get the seller to pay your agent’s fees.

Hiring a lawyer sounds expensive, but it is way cheaper than hiring a amateur (in this case yourself) who costs you money and provides no results (and then you need to hire a professional anyway).My personal philosophy is to "do it right, or do it twice" and its way cheaper to do it right once.