So...Assuming we're considering the advantages for American's to invest in Japan, I personally think it only makes sense in a select few situations. 

Real estate investing is forgiving; the average person can still make money even with some big mistakes.

What appears to be great "curb appeal" to one person might be overwhelming to another. 

It wasn’t a massive deal—our expected assignment fee was $10,000—but when you’re growing a business, every opportunity matters.Everything seemed to be moving smoothly until the title search revealed a major roadblock: the mortgage discharge couldn’t be cleared because the person who needed to sign off was deceased.

If you wanted to fund a portion of the down payment would you suggest a hard money lender, personal loan, etc.?

Unfortunately, this problem waste a lot of my time that could be spent on other investments.I have used the same tax professional for many years and he is very educated, but also much older than me and it's hard for me to understand all the reasons he has expressed why is better to put the rental on my personal tax returns.

With enough knowledge you can make a educated decision on which approach you take.My experience:I personally don't sign up for any program who take you aside during events and try to sell packages that is just blatant sales strategy.Once you sign up there is every attempt to make you sign for their programs for bookkeeping, registered agent, LLC or corp setup fee which have ridiculous even with platinum membership.Basic standard structure they suggest to take advantage of multiple deductions can be easily achieved by proper education or work with a good firm like https://wcginc.com  who is local to you.A umbrella C-crop to manage all other LLC properties and take advantage of many tax deductions that are not available with a llc, its also used to take losses up to 100K as startup expenses and dissolve the entity after few years.Few LLC entities for investing in Real Estate, etc preferably in Wyoming or Nevada ( you can find many companies online who can do this for $150 compared to anderson $1500-$3000) , they will claim they have a secret Operating agreement which is bogus.They certainly try to take advantage of tax loopholes and claim to be smart people, my view they are just taking advantage of numbers as per their own statements.

If one project slows down, others can keep moving.Stagger Projects: Start planning your next project while finishing the current one to keep your pipeline full.DSCR Loans: These loans focus on the property’s income, not your personal income, which can help you finance more properties.StrategyFlip and Hold: Flipping one property while prepping another for rental keeps cash flowing and builds your portfolio.BRRRR Timing: Since BRRRR is slower now, using DSCR loans to get multiple properties might be a good hedge.Good luck with your flip and future investments! 

HELOCs are generally provided to properties that are held in the owner's personal name.Are your family members not interested in refinancing the property?

Personally for what people charge for these programs I would say you are 1000x  better off taking some courses at a local college, getting a degree and working in real estate to get paid for experience and then do real estate on the side for your own portfolio as well.