Lessons learned?

I would personally pay a CPA and learn from them.

If you walked up to Michael Jordan and said, "I want to learn sports" he would walk away.

The fact you learned the children are the ones selling the property through a neighbor and this was not clear in the sales agreement suggests the proper authority might not have even existed to execute the agreement on behalf of the estate in the first place. 

that we’ve learned in our 24 years, managing almost 700 doors across the Metro Detroit area, including almost 100 S8 leases.

My goals are to learn from others who are already doing it - and helping investors in Riverside county reach their investment goals!

They may give you access to homes, they force you to drive neighborhoods, they could force you to learn a skill that will be valuable to real estate.

You're likely not as much of a beginner as you think, as learning how to take care of your own home is half of the battle.

I don't argue against, only for it, and that would be appreciation, mortgage paydown by tenant, other tax benefits which I still have to learn. 

First time landlord and I am definitely learning some tough lessons here.