Lenders get paid at closing.Consider developing a better process to find and vet your lenders, Torianne.

In the future, we aim to get into fixer-uppers, development, etc., but for now, we like to only consider semi-stabilized (with minimal deferred maintenance) or fully stabilized, cash-flowing properties. 

An LLC is potentially one minor factor that might contribute to the evidence that you are running your rental activity as a trade or business, but it's definitely not required that you have an LLC to qualify.

Does size of mortgage paydown become a factor here?

This is a long term development opportunity.

If your goal is passive income, it's not going to be in New Jersey when you factor in cost to purchase, management costs, and rent to price ratio, but what you can get is steady appreciation.

Since then I have developed my programs and brokrered over 250 deals.

You have relationship infrastructure and knowledge that took a very long time to develop.  

If we do a Self Storage development we expect a 400% COC return.  

And just so you know, here are some of the factors an agent will look at to figure that out:Market Conditions: If the market is slower, going all in on staging can make your home look move-in ready and attractive to buyers who may otherwise be hesitant.