A service contract may be the way to go.You let your tenants know ahead of time your coming out for inspection of unit and you maintain your building, the best you can.

Ideally I would like to go ahead and get it under contract and sell it to an investor with a provision in the contract that the owner maintains possession of the property until a specific date.

I would probably be hesitant making offers that I think are ridiculous in order to maintain a decent reputation with other Realtors®.

Trying to decide whether I should cash out my 401k and IRA or my mutual funds and stocks to get the down for my first rental property.

It's a bit ironic that a real estate agent is recommending an account that can only hold stocks and the like over assets such as real estate.

By doing this you were able to maintain the integrity of your exchange and also purchase the exact right replacement property.Example - If you're going to sell a $300K building and want to build on a $100K lot you really like, you could do a reverse exchange.  

Sure, @Alberto Murillo Since your Father is gifting you property as opposed to currency/cash, you will need to determine your Father's basis in the property (less the allocated financed amount); of which you would be required to "carryover" during your ownership going forward.An example may better clarify:  Say your father gifted you 100 shares of ABC common stock which when he gifted it to you the fair market value (FMV) was worth $10.00/share or $1,000. 

Much of my generation (I’m in my mid-40s) and younger generations don’t have the skill set to do common repairs or remodeling so they have to pay labor costs for every repair or update.Those who realize they don’t have the knowledge, skills or desire to maintain or renovate a house are renting.Renting makes sense for an ever increasing portion of the population.

If you can be persistent in maintaining the blog, do it.

I havent walked through the house I mentioned to you, I dont know anything about it other than I know the neighborhood and I think I am pretty close on where the market rent would be if each of the units were well maintained and had a decent layout.IF this property is decent, you will have to move fast.