Hi Brett, I would opt to utilize a HELOC. 

In regard to the best interest rates, the market is pretty fragmented so it's best to check around wherever you are looking to establish your foot print. 

In your opinion, what is the most effective way to establish an LLC? 

-As far as trying to sell land with no access, sometimes I've sold those to neighbors who want to increase their acreage, or utility companies, cities or other public entities who could use the piece for whatever reason.

But 1k a month in utilities definitely seems high.

- regional / drivable destination (I've personally rented out a bunch of Airbnbs here)- already established STR laws (while very strict, they have shown to grandfather in permits and haven't proposed a flat out ban that would also retroactively take away permits)- Fredericksburg also fights new hotels just as hard as STRs.

As mentioned elsewhere, breakeven on cash flow is not the same as break even for taxes.Let's make some assumptions:Rental income = $1000Mortgage payment = $400 - but $300 is interest and $100 is principalOther expenses (repairs, advertising, utilities, etc) = $600Depreciation = $250The above scenario creates a break even from a cash flow perspective, however the tax scenario looks like this:Rental income minus the mortgage interest (principal is not deductible) minus the other expenses minus depreciation looks like this:1000-300-600-250 = $150 LossIf your income is over $150,000, then you cannot deduct that loss, but you can roll it over to future years. 

One of the methods I plan to utilize is to list the space on craigslist.

ABC kept the first two and half months of rent from the rental guarantee for tenant placement fees and utilities (water, electric).

Like you said in your post, "Buying and holding is a long term strategy...............focus on the end goal"The second reason for trying to get good deals is that if you can get a 10-20% built in equity off the bat, it has the advantage of:- taking a big part of the risk factor off the table- built in equity that can be utilized as required- better cash flowThere are a lot of people on BPs that say that "money is made on the front end in RE".