Property is a 1975 constructed home that is on a highway corridor that is zoned and has been converted into commercial office space. 

He is a retired master plumber with GC experience; I have a full time job and experience with buy and hold real-estate and  access to  capital.

Mini Storage units and Commercial Office space are mainly what I'm looking into.

You'll have 24/7 access to the house (you'll be lining in it) and you can see how others are treating your property.

I'm not looking to sell real estate as a career at this time, I just want access too the mls and be able to look at houses on my convenience. 

HELOCs are a great way to participate in real estate because they offer inexpensive access to very liquid funds. 

Either actual examples or profiles (neighborhood/#beds/general condition/access to amenities/etc) would be great.

If you moved in with a washer/dryer, then he should maintain the washer/dryer.If you allow him to start charging for laundry then he could suddenly decide to charge for use of the oven or a parking space.

I used to do it for most clients (bigger ones excluded) unless I had access to an operating account of some type for them. 

You also learn a lot like how to run comps and get direct MLS access which is nice.Hope that helps.