Hi everyone! New member from Long Island New York!

[Boris Alayev]

Hello BiggerPockets community. I stumbled on to some BP podcasts and was hooked. I always liked the idea of real estate but never stopped to think about how it could be turned into a investment opportunity. I read the BP  beginners guide and "7 years to 7 Figures" by Brandon Turner and so far I like what I am seeing. I have talked to the people in my circles and it seems many are interesting in investing and many have skills/values they bring to the table (ie RE Attorney, Funding etc). 

Luckily I do not need supplemental income so all the proceeds would be going towards further investments. I think I like the buy and hold strategy and it seems single family and smaller multifamily (duplex) units are the easiest to work with when first starting off. 

I had a few questions:

1.) I would prefer to have a partner for at least some of the deals at the beginning, what are some recommendation of how to structure the LLC or some of the difficult points that are better to discuss/review/understand before partnering with someone?

2.) Investing in Long Island NY, which would be natural for me due to my location is not as easy as it requires more startup capital. Brandon Turner underlines that if you can't stick to the strict numbers in your region, branch out.  I have been told Cleveland Ohio may be a good investment opportunity. What are the cons/pros from those who know first hand.  And what circles should I get involved in to get more information?

3.) What are some other regions worth exploring? I prefer to stretch 20k-40k of my initial investments to be able to purchase as many properties as that would allow (down-payments) as I have excellent credit and would be perusing conventional funding from banks. 

Thanks in advance.