Our home LLC in ND but it only costs about $100 and a foreign LLC is all our CPA recommended we do.  

Are there any other neighborhoods you recommend?

Now, it took me many years and a lot of real estate trading to get to this place with my bank, but that is why I highly recommend that RE investors work hard and finding and nurturing a local banking relationship.

I'd recommend starting with the lower hanging fruit than a large basement reno - if your comps are close but don't quite get you to your number.Finishing the basement (with proper egress) could push you over the top, but confirm with an appraiser first to ensure it counts.

I can recommend property management, realtor, vendors, if you need them.

Any recommendations? 

My recommendation is before chasing all these real estate deals is to go earn and save some money so when a good deal comes a long you can take action and move on it. 

What would you recommend?

Here's a couple practical steps I'd recommend to help make your decision:1.

In your case of a fourplex, option 2 should get you a better deal.I would also agree with Bill on how the number of units may not correlate with the value of the property unless it is a large multifamily complex, and sometimes a fourplex or several single family houses would give you better returns. 100% We always recommend conventional first until you can no longer qualify for those.