Of which I’m struggling with both but I’m getting there.

We rented my wife’s condo and are currently getting $2,350 per month.

Hey your agent involved to get answers to the questions and speak directly with seller / sellers agent

I have informed the builder but worried it won’t get fixed or they’ll try to avoid it however they can.

Get the umbrella policy. 

Haven't found much resources on how to structure the deal whether to buy out partner's shares at existing basis (I believe this wouldn't be advantageous as I wouldn't get to mark the asset to market and lose out on depreciation) or open new LLC or S-Corp and buy out both partners (I would end up taking gain tax due to sale but would get new dep. basis).

It seems like the last few years have been terrible on that side.Hey man, I get what you're saying, but it's not as bad as it seems.

That's not going to stop me, I'm currently building a team over in Birmingham to get my portfolio started, but I wanted to get some advice about how the out of state buying process normally works.

You can also get a contractor to go look for you and give you a verbal estimate but not everyone will do that.

Total costs of getting to the cusp of approval: $27,086.