For example, if a PM manages the property, they usually charge you first month if they find the tenant themselves.

I usually end up just saying I do taxes otherwise they just get really confused and keep asking tax questions anyways.This response certainly helps and I will see if I can find a real estate specific tax professional.

I think the best course of action is to continue to look for reasonably-priced listings on the MLS (usually need a lot of work!)

There are lots of reasons why the person isn't getting a loan even though they have that much cash: could be maxed on the number of loans (10 usually). credit issues, contractor (1099) employment, etc  It can sometimes help if the buyer can provide a credit report to make the seller feel more comfortable.Good luck and welcome to BP!

There are physical companies in each state, that you can hire to do pre-purchase inspections, usually done for a fee by general contractors, from the foundation, to the roof.

Texas is a big state but up here in Dallas a lot of investor networking groups have contractors at them and they can usually tell you to use X figures for X. 

For us Californians, the best thing to to might be just to start small, with great insurance, and keep your OOS tenants happy (be thoughtful)...that usually will reduce the chances of a lawsuit from the get-go.

Jumping in on your first deal is usually the toughest part!

As they move up the net worth ladder investors tend to want less headaches and move into higher quality assets where ongoing cash flow is a little less but long term equity growth prospects are high.There is generally not demand for low income areas except for investor buyers searching for yield to deal with a headache versus ultra high quality areas where investors will usually pay  a premium to a seller to own in an area.

@Scott EdwardsI think part of the reason this isn't usually taken into direct account is everybody's tax situation, bracket, etc. is different, so it's very difficult to estimate how owning a particular property will impact their tax liability for the year.With that being said, it's a definite benefit of owning real estate and more sophisticated rental property calculators do show the tax benefits (like depreciation and mortgage interest deductions).