He came to me to see if   I would be open to co-owning the property.

Get insurance quotes on similar houses to what you are looking to buy BEFORE you even put in offers.

I’ve got to stop reading BP, it gets worse and worse.  

New to real estate investing with a focus on the mulit-family (1-4 residential) space.  

However, I suspect it's still tied to the furnace/boiler.

If it stays beyond what's paid for either move it to a storage area on your land and keep track of storage fees or see if you can have someone tow it offsite for you and in that case they will have to pay whatever fee the tow yard charges. 

Read some good reviews and some bad of these “packaged” wills/trusts, and felt most comfortable with Will Maker.  

Any general tips or advice on forming partnerships with out of state investors?

Good luck to all of you.

Assuming the property’s value is $280,000, here is a breakdown of the approximate upfront costs to buy residential real estate:Down payment at 25%: $70,000Closing costs at 5%: $14,000Home inspection and appraisal: $800Contingency fund based on a monthly mortgage payment of $1,300: $7,800Therefore, to get started in real estate investing, you would need around $92,000.