It's a completely passive way to invest and I read a few days ago an article demonstrating that you'd make higher returns while taking less risks compared with the average investment in rentals that you could do directly.

@Brandon Turner will tell anyone new to the game to "analyze 100 deals" as a good starting point.Here is the breakdown of my spreadsheet on the BP Blog: https://www.biggerpockets.com/...I use this spreadsheet as a preliminary evaluation tool. 

As for due diligence, check out @Seth Williams’ blog (retipster.com), if you haven’t already.

@Arianna HernandezMaybe this will help.https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/3-reasons-buy-distressed-property?

Check out this blog post by Brandon Turner for investing in real estate while in the military.

I've found some related articles online but would love to hear about the experiences in the knowledgeable BP community.

Check this blog for ideas of seller-focused benefits.  

Take a look at BP's blog where new articles are published every day: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog4.

I thought I read an article once which stated that a "whole house" arsenic treatment was required by FHA for all  water in the house, as well as any drinking water for pets or livestock. 

There are tons of articles on BP discussing with this.