For some, if they have to move out of a house with stairs they don’t want to buy again because they anticipate moving into assisted living in a few years or moving in with their children (my criteria will be house with 1st floor master or ranches) These are all simply my observations and I would value any critique or confirmation.Once I work out some other obligations and figure out where I’m going to land with private school tuition for my son I hope to buy my first project later this year.

These are not my observations, these came directly from the Texas Real Estate Institute which has some really smart people doing research there.  

@Martin SnellMartin,You will have a hard time getting the FHA loan for another "owner occupied" property because underwriters look at value of current property, whether they determine your living situation will be going backwards (most people like to live in the "big house" rather than smaller rental properties  or single family properties rather than units) and where you work if you're moving further away from work etc...LendingHome is a good option for rehab money as are a few others, but your observation is correct, you'll need to pay the contractors out of pocket prior to each draw. 

You do need to maintain separate bank accounts for each entity, and observe all corporate formalities. 

If I saw a home is on sale, I stop and check it from outside or observe the neighborhood.

Bet on number 7 in the second race if you live across from the track....No really.....One oddball I have read in a couple of books and even online (here and elsewhere) that may have some merit is juding a potential property/tenants by their vehicles....( not the only metric for sure but just one observable factor of many to consider along with all the other data points and best practices).If the place you are looking at has a bunch of older inefficient, beater cars in the lot, this may be a management issue (leaking oil, immobile cars, unsightly) AND also eating up the tenants monthly paychecks in repairs, fuel, etc. 

In my observation, governance tends to be best in the smallest "willing" locales, so any effort to move in that direction is interesting.

Management is taking responsibility while administration is just observation and reporting to the owner. 

Although I don't post much, I observe and research when I need answers.

However, the retrofit contractors agree with our observation that most owners are  going to wait until the last minute.