With, of course short periods for certain items.

Am I responsible in any way for tenants dealing drugs or growing marijuana in one of my properties?

If you're going to hold it for a while, you have to factor in the life expectancy of items in the rental.

Landlord shall be responsible for compliance with Section 83.51, Florida Statutes, and shall be responsible for maintenance and repair of the Premises, unless otherwise stated below: (Fill in each blank space with “Landlord" for Landlord or “Tenant" for Tenant, if left blank, Landlord will be responsible for the item):SERVICEMEMBER.

I think you should classify the deferred maintenance repairs as an acquisition cost on your books, but then do book-to-tax adjustments for your tax returns, in order  to expense those items. 

Here are some items I'm aware of for steps between the closing and getting a renter

We are going to relax a couple days on communications and see if we can get a few of our big ticket items in at a better number.

Item #3 is how I got my start.

Seller took care of a list of inspection items for me and I've engaged a property management group to start marketing the house for rent.

I am no expert on the subject, just making note of it for you.From what I understand, one of the rules is that the note must be fully amortized.If you don't already have these easy format purchase agreements you spoke of, it is likely that another investor in your area does, so I would start there, however, the contract is only as good as the verbiage in it, and with lack of experience, you may not have items in there you would likely want, hence, the attorney route.If you plan to make thousands of dollars flipping deals where the acquisition was with owner carried notes, why not spend the money on the attorney?