Next big move.. most important pieces to implement??

[Joshua Shepherd]

I had recently posted about our first successful purchase of a duplex, which we have also very quickly found a solid tenant it seems. This has spurred my thinking again immediately on the next step towards purchasing and repeating this over and over. My wife has now got the fever after the thought of our mortgage being covered by someone else which frees us up to possibly invest again very soon. 

I am not limited to duplex/triplex situations and I am seriously considering running some quick flips on single family home based on wanting to get quick cash return. What have successful flippers found in central maine helps move a house quick? Time of year factor in? Has anyone accessed or used a home refinance or a home line of credit on a current property to pull out equity for a re-investment situation/How soon can you do that after owning your home? Or can that be done.. or am I wrong in thinking this is an option?

We utilized the 203K loan on the FHA the first time around, but I want to explore other more creative money saving opportunities because the loan has high fee rates and is initially a higher cost out of pocket. Any central Maine friends have private money lending friends or connections that might be interested in getting involved with someone who does Construction Project management for a living? I could seriously see myself looking to acquire 5-10 houses/projects over the next couple years and I am looking for that ever creative way to work together with like minded and driven individuals. My biggest area of weakness at this point is understanding creative financing and Tax situations and advantages.

If I was to invest and begin acquiring properties very quickly, what would be the biggest tax decisions I will be facing and implementations I need to get in place before I make such an investment? I constantly hear how people "throw money away" when not fully taking advantage of the tax code when getting into real estate investing and want to avoid that. How important is the LLC phase of investing and when should I begin? Anyone recommend a good advisor in this area?

I know there is a lot here, but please feel free to discuss any/all of it.. Thank you!