Taking the Next Step with LLCs and Financing

[Alex McKnight]

I'm brand new to the site and just recently found Bigger Pockets. I've been listening to past podcasts daily and am extremely excited to hear from people and their experiences.  I'm relatively new to rental properties so all advice is welcomed (good and bad). I currently have two rental properties that have cash flowed nicely and haven't had any tenant issues or major maintenance work (yet).  My wife and I bought our first home in 2011 knowing that we would eventually turn that into a rental property and then bought our first rental in 2014.  We bought a new house to move into last year and are now renting out our previous residence along with the rental property bought in 2014.  

My first questions deal with LLCs. I have not started a LLC for my two properties yet and would like some advice on how/where I should go to do that. Specifically, when I have the LLC will I then have renters write checks to that name instead of mine? Would I need to get a new bank account for the LLC and is that difficult to transfer money back and forth between the LLC and myself? We currently are saving that monthly income in an account separate from our personal accounts but I'd like to know the process if for some reason we ever need to use it month to month.

The next question revolves around financing for future rental properties.  Up until this point I have only used conventional bank loans to purchase  houses.  Knowing that as a teacher I'm not going to always have enormous amounts of capital lying around, I've been trying to research other options and listen to specific podcasts regarding that issue.  Can anyone help in this area?  

Thanks!

Alex