As a first time rental property investor from San Diego investing in a dangerous area in Detroit, do you think I would be making a good investment buying a home for under $5K in auction, without seeing the property, needing to make serious renovations and unsure of hidden fees and taxes?

It's a state-specific question, so you need to specify a state.In general quitclaim deeds are a very dangerous way to buy a home.

Not knowing beans about partnership law and claiming to  have a partner can be dangerous for you and your unaware "partner" but especially for you.

(Reference the economic substance doctrine of Section 7701(o) of the Internal Revenue Code.)

I ordered a bunch from Amazon and many were outdated or they sell hype with no substance.  

The real danger is that you customize the house for these buyers and then they back out of the deal or fail to qualify for a mortgage.

@Jason Chambers Do search the form threads, there was recently a long thread on CAP rates - and the dangers of banding it about without really understanding its shortcomings.The CAP rate is a ratio which allows you to compare cash flows within a given location, but it tells you nothing about the quality of the cash flows being compared.Mathematically, CAP rate is simple: Net Operating Income / Acquisition cost.  

Also are there any dangers that come with my dad using his home equity to help finance my investing dreams? 

Some have embraced it, some allow reluctantly, some don't allow it.Those that don't allow Checkbook Control will have lengthy and prominent marketing materials about the dangers of Checkbook Control.Those that don't allow Checkbook Control also have very fine print that explains that they (the custodians) make money on the funds that they are holding.

Undisturbed asbestos is not dangerous in itself.