An empty rental is better than having the wrong tenant.Get familiar with the cost of repairs, labor, and parts.  

I dont know, just rubbed me the wrong way.  

And you wouldn't need a commercial loan, you'd need a residential loan (so they're just wrong there, I think) but if it were an investor loan , i.e. non-owner-occ, then yes you'd need that larger downpayment so that's probably what they're thinking of.

I would not want something to happen to my partner and have to give up the investment despite you doing anything wrong.  

But again, a good landlord attorney will keep you most protected and the cost of legal advice far outweighs doing something wrong and it favoring the tenant's bank account.I personally always like to have a 1 year lease (nothing longer for residential) and security deposit for the following reasons:1) I am theoretically guaranteed to not have a vacancy during that time and I know what my income will be.2) My tenants know they are legally responsible for paying the rent during that time.  

Whenever my agent sends anything to the listing agent, the listing agent seems to always need "one more thing" or something is "always wrong or missing".

There are so many things that can go wrong here, tread carefully!

Finally, I decided to put a sewer liner in and I have been problem free ever since.I have learned that if I am going to rehab, i am going to do it top to bottom so that I have a clear mind as to what is wrong and fix it from the get go. 

If one continues to add value, one can never go wrong!

If you buy a home all in for $40k I will almost guarantee things will go wrong, maybe not right way but long term this will turn out to be a loser of a property.