A well written management contract should clearly spell out what is expected of both the PMC and the owner, to PROTECT both and avoid misunderstandings.

When you talk about liability you can offset that by making sure you have a good Insurance policy and close the loan in an LLC.LLC protects you and your assets from lawsuits and any litigation from any and all accidents/injuries.

An LLC can help protect your personal assets by limiting liability, and it also allows you to establish business credit early, which can be useful as you scale your portfolio.

Talking to your real estate tax person and an asset protection attorney and then making your decisions is a reasonable way to go about this task.

Get a reduced prepay in case the market does goes lower to protect yourself.

Ask them who the biggest player in the room is. 

Two different animals really and I don't see creative financing is typically a reality with either option.Typically for tax liens and deeds you will need cash to be a player and cash that you can tie up for 1 year or two at minimum.   

One area realtors are helpful is protecting clients from themselves.

We have a 14-page management contract that we've added our real experiences to over the years, with the intent of protecting both us AND the landlord.

I recommend you use an attorney to ensure the contract is clean and you are protected.