Not interested in Turnkey btw - I'd rather buy pre-renovation (not post-renovation) to capture the equity myself.

Those that work with investors frequently will turn the repairs around quickly allowing you to get it rented sooner and minimize vacancy (your biggest expense when the property is actually vacant).If you want to capture all your capital gains now without tax and put that into a multifamily, that may also be a good option - but you can still get some favorable tax treatment later even if you go ahead and turn it into a rental - so long as you lived in it 2 of the last 5 years at the time you sell it.Hope it works out well for you!

Identify the critiical items necessary to purchase the deal.

The operating account should be to receive rents, pay expenses, and have a debit card attached for quick spending items.  

Hello George.We all as investors face the same opportunities, finding a good deal and getting it under contract for what the property is worth (taking into account financials, terms, rehab, etc.) and getting it closed, so we can turn a profit.I can only assume you are just getting started in investing based on your question (I could be wrong), so my first action item for you would be to market to these owners through post cards, letters, door knocking, email, phone, social media, etc. so you can gauge interest in selling. 

The rent is then determined based on the lowest of 3 items A)  The asking rent  B)  The maximum payment depending on program limits and income of the tenant  C)  The market rent (as determined by CMHA which is not always reaslistic). 

A few other items come into play when trying to rent out a home, but those are the 2 most important.  

Every heir has a price.Example 2 - Similar to example 1 and happened after example 1 we paid a heir to come sign a waiver that they don't want the belongings and that they recognize all items will be donated to Goodwill or thrown in the garbage.  

@Jonathan ThompsonAnother item to keep in mind is that all of your self employment income from all sources can be aggregated for purposes of contributing to the Solo 401k.Here is an except from an article written by Calcpa.orgWhen a self-employed individual maintains more than one trade or business, the questionarises as to whether the limit is based on the sum of earned income or loss from all trades orbusinesses under common control [as defined in IRC 414( c)) as modified by IRC 415(h)], or ifonly the trade or business maintaining the plan being tested is used.For purposes of the IRC 415limit, earned income for the self-employed individual is based on the sum of the earned incomefrom all the controlled trades or businesses, regardless of whether the related employer maintainsa qualified plan [Reg. 1.415-2(d)(6)].EXAMPLE: Andy, a sole proprietor, operates a law practice as a sole proprietorand has $100,000 of self-employment income from such practice for 2008 (prior tothe reduction for one-half of self-employment tax).

I can speak to the student related items.