Each strategy has its own set of needs as far as funding, timelines, team members, etc...Markets, on the other hand, or the choice of which Market to invest in, is critical...in fact, it's everything.  

These 8 steps have been the most critical in growing our portfolio from 0-72 unit in four years.

@Wayne Brooks  this is a critical issue in many states and its state specific.. like MS we use QC all the time no problem. in other states its a problem... for instance in MO I had a client that lent money.. this was a flake that was trolling AUSSIE's bad actor from KC... he then quit Claimed house to lender.. but this would not hold up and lender could not resell.. lender had to do full blown foreclosure because the guy went dark.. were as a DIL would have done the trickOP,  I think you can have your grandmother sign the warrenty deed .. it does not extinguish by signing a QC the warrenty deed is then recorded and the title company has what they want..if she is not capable.. then I think you need to petition the court for help.

Always, be skeptical, critical, and contrarian.

Overall,  property management, self-management or with a property manager, is of critical importance. 

. -  Finding a good CPA is absolutely critical for a business owner!  

I agree you should only do what has to be done when occupied but sometime there are non-critical repairs like flooring or painting you need to do. 

(I get criticized every time I point this out but) The $218,000 you are putting down would provide a better than $10,000 PER MONTH positive cash flow in Detroit and Detroit suburbs without taking on new debt.

Avoiding a large volume of water getting down to that area in the first place is critical. 

They aren't going to leave any important or critical tasks to normal volunteers, and I doubt they will involve you in any financial details of the projects.