Went into the deal expecting turn-key and my inspection revealed cracks in the foundation basement walls.

My wife and I are new investors and are looking to buy our first property.We want to make sure that we set up a good foundation to start our journey.We are trying to decide if we need to start with a business entity or not?

I informed the guy I found at the outset that conventional bank financing would not work due to my special circumstances (mostly because my income fluctuates wildly due to the nature of my work and my 2018 tax paperwork showed a loss)  and inquired about asset based financing, HM, other alternatives based on my balance sheet rather than on my most recent income statement. 

@Justin WalshHi Justin,You might want to think about letting the cash stack up for 3 years until you have $66k (in the bank), and spend that time learning what you want to do (and how to do it) and learning what you do not want to do.That way you are more in control of your situation than asking others what to do with the money, and you will have a stronger cash foundation to build your real estate business on (cash is King).

foundations bring the houses above the flood line by a brick or two. 

I rehabbed it as time permitted, but when I move out making it a rental everything had been redone except the big items (foundation, roof, heater, plumbing (except we did the sewer), and electrical).  

I think we probably paid out $1000 in various repair of galvanized pipe.There was also a plumbing situation outside with old clay pipes underground that we couldn't have known about, but that ended up costing us $5,500 to jackhammer up the back porch, replace the line and put in new concrete.Water in the basement, we paid someone for a foundation drain to the tune of $2500, and then we put in 2 french drains ourselves, which came to about $1000. 

It is very informative and provided me a general foundation and plan to work off of.

Some of the things you'll want to watch out for are knob and tube or aluminum wiring, lead paint, pipes that are extremely old (cast iron drain pipes can last 100 years but many types have a shorter lifespan), when was the roof last repaired, how old is the hvac, asbestos, old chimneys or stone foundations sometimes need to be re-pointed. 

It sounds like you've got a nice cash foundation to begin acquiring properties.I'm in Columbus as well and have goals similar to yours.