Recently purchased a 2 family property in upstate New York and got the news from a chimney specialist that the stone chimney may not be worth saving.

You have to have thick skin, or develop it, to be able to be a good player in this game.

I received a call from an SEO specialist and was telling me that he could rank my website high on Google.

It's either do it yourself on the sly and try to dispose of it carefully (there are special bags you can get for disposal) or over pay for a state authorised abatement specialist. 

I know people need skin in the game to light a fire.

We went straight into a house to live in just would have been too big of a headache to move twice especially with an elementary age student.That said I'll do it in reverse and look for an investment property now but a good agent (specialist with investors) is going to be key #1.

Broker's will have numerous companies and some companies, like the one I work at, have specialists who only work with investors.

Lenders are looking for experience, FICO, skin in the game, 2 years of tax returns, and schedule of REO. 

Would it be typical to add him to the loan as well so we all have skin in the game in that regard?

I also strongly encourage you to attend 1-2 networking events every couple of months as that will help you get super close to the 'action' and people that have their skin in the game.