Not all of them want to give up their income stream, so for a seller who wants the ongoing rental income I'm planning to help them buy another house.

Purchase price for the duplex was $57k and we only put about $4k into it (see photos of this unit below).My next tenant for a bungalow I have on the east side (purchase price $40k, $8k-$10k rehab -- still ongoing) has a credit score of 783 and works in the suburbs making $75k/year.Folks like to tell you it's "all about tenant selection" but apparently that gets thrown out the window the minute "Detroit" is mentioned. 

There is also a number of videos online to watch and on going classes

To get something like that setup will run you $10k to start (just for the docs), then of course costs for ongoing compliance. 

You should plan for 5 to 10% of your monthly rent to cover ongoing capital expenditures/repairs anyway.

In reality, we find less qualified tenants, leading to more evictions, leading to higher turnover, more break-ins / property damage, and ongoing costs.

As a snapshot - today I have 3 vacancies in my portfolio that I'm not sweating a bit due to complete ownership and an ongoing cash flow from other properties. 

We both plan on going to grad school in Boston and are torn between the decision of potentially buying a 3 bedroom condo in Boston and house hacking it with a third roommate to help pay off some of the mortgage/expenses associated with the condo.

And what should a young investor as myself focus on going forward with the inspection and closing?

Its been a royal pain for everybody, not just residential builds.As for construction cost just on going vertical I would think for a "modest" house you are looking at a range of $120-150/sq ft.