Also, was agent required for it?

No idea on the notice period required, depends on your lease and your particular state laws. 

The most important thing to do is either you or your wife need to qualify as a real estate professional (IRS definition, no realtor license required).

You can file annual reports as required in each state yourself and pay the fees.

It will require 15-20% down though as others have said.

The larger property will be required to be held in an LLC.

Reflect on what you envision for your retirement and assess whether you're prepared for the effort required to manage properties in a new market.

We find ourselves receiving a combination of PDFs, excel spreadsheets, banking statements etc which then require reconciling and organization on our end.

The City of Branson does require a business license to operate an STR if you self manage.

Not to mention, for the transaction to make sense for a wholesaler, won't Mel be required to go under contract for less than the FMV in order for their to be sufficient spread for the wholesaler to assign the contract to the end buyer?