The growth now will be in the ancillary businesses moving to the metro to support Tesla and other tech-focused manufacturers.

Hopefully you have left over paint and that is an easy thing, I wouldn't necessarily charge them for unless there are large holes in the wall. 

I know they have both received their respective letters because the upper tenant responded promptly with the contact info I requested.Upper unit tenant has been awesome and super easy to communicate with.

Easy. 

It's also helpful to interview a few candidates to see who you feel most comfortable with in terms of understanding your goals and who can offer practical advice tailored to your investment strategy.Make sure to ask about their experience with real estate investors, their fee structure, and whether they have dealt with setting up similar business structures.

Investors with experiences and losses recommend living within 3 or 4 hours of the rental, so it's easy to drive back if something goes haywire.My friends live 2 hours from theirs and it's a hassle. 

I have stellar credit and own my personal residence (valued approx $950k) free and clear, so it would be easy for me to get financing personally to purchase it and then transfer to LLC, but that sounds like that could be messy.

Code § 10131A real estate broker within the meaning of this part is a person who, for a compensation or in expectation of a compensation, regardless of the form or time of payment, does or negotiates to do one or more of the following acts for another or others:… (b) Leases or rents or offers to lease or rent, or places for rent, or solicits listings of places for rent, or solicits for prospective tenants, or negotiates the sale, purchase, or exchanges of leases on real property, or on a business opportunity, or collects rents from real property, or improvements thereon, or from business opportunities.

My best friend and I want to partner together to start a rental property business.

Which will bring plenty of other investors and general business to the area.