Renting Properties as an LLC

[Michael Voils]

I'm still in the research phase of my real estate journey.

I have an established family - married, three kids and a mortgage. I have only one vehicle that has a loan, the other is owned outright. I am not in a position to house hack. As a result, what I am seeing is that I will need 20% down for a commercial mortgage. I have about 12k liquid in the bank, and can possibly get more pulling from stocks, mutual funds, retirement funds, home equity loan, etc. I don't like the idea of liquidating my other assets though.

I like the sound of creating an LLC to start my portfolio.

PROs (That I can see) 

1. Uses the potential profit of the LLC instead of my own credit and income to determine if the loan is accepted.

2. Limits liability for myself and family were we to get sued, or the house goes in to foreclosure (Due to poor planning on my part, most likely) etc.

CONs

1. Initial funding for the first rental may be difficult.

2. Extra fees associated with an LLC.

My questions are these:

1. Where can I find information on specifically starting the journey with an LLC? Videos, books, articles, blogs?

2. How, as an LLC, can I get funds for the down payment? A $200,000 home would require a $40,000 out of pocket investment, which I don't have. Borrowing or co owning with family or friends doesn't seem like it would help an LLC get a loan.

3. How do I actually determine how much to charge for rent? I can use the provided calculators to give a ballpark amount, but how do I figure out a specific one for a specific house? Trial and error?

4. Does anyone know of any Veteran or Disabled Veteran friendly loan companies that might go easier on the down payment? I'm using my VA loan on my own house, and you can't use it on a rental property anyway. Again, I'm not in a position to house hack.

Any help would be appreciated, thank you!