Go through the house, determine what materials are required, price them at a typical home depot and or lowes etc. research online what you may need to do anything.

I put together a spreadsheet here to help potential house hackers quickly analyze whether or not a property qualifies.There are other FHA requirements concerning which you should contact your local lender, but determining whether or not a triplex or fourplex meets the self-sufficiency rule is a good place to start as this rule will immediately eliminate many properties from your search, especially in expensive markets.

When researching a city out of my home state, what's the best way to research a zip code or a city on the internet for good schools? 

You will likely need to have the property appraised to determine the gift value for tax purposes.  

I think you should determine what you need done, write a scope of your work so that it is very clear what you expect and the cost of material needed to get that job done.

These are questions you need to answer to determine what is best for you.

I provide a complete acquisition and management service, covering the following.Pre-purchase inspections to determine repair/upgrades needed.Coordinating renovations and preventative maintenance.Tenant screening, writing leases, rent collection.Payment processing to vendors for repairs & routine property maintenance such as air conditioning, pest control and lawn care.  

Second there are many threads on BP with what people would do if they had x amount of $$.Before you can decide what direction you wish to go, you need to determine your goals.  

The source of our health problems was determined to be toxic black mold, ultimately resulting in the total loss of our home and the equity on which we were depending.

That will determine the circumstances under which the buyer can legally terminate the contract without penalty.