There is a wealth of info on her about arbitrage, just search from the main forum page. 

The main issue is that rental rates on the new construction make it challenging to cash flow much, if any, in the first 3 years. 

My main goal is to build a solid portfolio for my children, 20 and 8 months, to inherit.

While owner financing is often talked about, the investor needs to realize that the two main reasons sellers are willing to owner finance, especially to a buyer with no capital, is (1) the property is impossible to sell otherwise, usually because it loses money every month and the seller can’t figure out how to make it profitable and (2) the seller wants an above market sale price and the only way to get it is to finance a buyer.  

Can you fix the place and still service the debt?

Advise the tenant that you are very serious about rent collection and do not ever waive late fees.Procedure for allowing a pet or clarify that they may never add one.Where the electrical breaker box is, main water shut off and instructions on how to operate.You should have most all other policies and procedures codified in your lease agreement. 

My 10-year goal is to own and operate 2-4 short-term rentals in lake-based vacation destinations and provide add-on hospitality services to further my mission and cash flow.

I am real estate agent focused on homebuyers and investors (mainly offering rebates) and as an investor my focus in this area has been long term buy and hold investing.

My main reason for having an inspection period was so I could take a closer look at things like the AC ducts/crawl space underneath because it was pouring down rain the day we saw it.

I am mainly seeing extremely distressed and turn key.