And you're right, managing for others without being licensed spells all kinds of trouble.People fear what they don't understand, like being an LLC member.

However, fear of taxes on the flips should not keep you from flipping.

But, it has higher risk of vandalism I fear, and I'm wondering if people are buying there.

My fear is if we don’t buy now in SF soon and instead use money to invest elsewhere we will get priced out of owning in SF (we have 2 kids and we know we want to be in SF long term) I am a stay at home mom but my hope is to get a job in real estate so I can learn.

I will have to find out if it is considered a "grantors trust".The exchange company knows I am not doing anything that would be considered "illegal" but they said there is such a large grey zone in terms of ownership they are fearful of an audit.

I am brand new and never owned a home before so I want to look at as many houses as possible before I buy my first property.You seem to have an almost irrational fear of sales people.

Don't let fear of paying taxes drive your decision process. 

I guess I got to get outside of this fear that it could never happen for me even if I talked to them.

For those that do not have experience evicting and turning over units efficiently, out of fear of actually managing a property, they tend to lose everything in a down turn market.

But I fear that with the situation we are in, it may make more sense to go with the Portfolio Loan so that we don't run into road bumps around the Quit Claim deed transfer and zoning issues (SFR used technically as duplex).