Couple scenarios to illustrate:Scenario 1: Let's say both deals create $10k in equity and produce +$400/mo in cash flow. 

I think the above would still be your best bet minus the house hacking - IE: find a place that is best set up to produce income, but also has substantial opportunity for improvement.Just my 2 cents.

Secondly, if you're buying an income producing property in Alabama in an LLC, it's undoubtedly going to need to be registered in Alabama. 

Yes I own my home but I would give a lot of push back to a complex or landlord if they didn’t allow me to produce my own plants.

Our well doesn't produce well and it's a constant concern.

Same amount of cash can produce a lot more returns when leveraged. 

This usually works best for something that's mass produced and has a predictable lifespan.

By day, I'm a video producer and operate a couple of LLC's doing production work and my only retirement setup at the moment is a Roth IRA.

I have 10 rental units in Atlanta, and like everyone else, have been having a harder time finding solid deals that produce the way my current ones do.

.- There is a possibility you won't sell your property for a price high enough to justify selling and you may have to rent it for a while (oh, and incur a bunch of new financing & title co costs to refi out of your hard money loan).The ONLY fun things about them are: (a)  they are finally over, and (b) hopefully, you produced a good product and sold it with a profit... latter isn't guaranteed as you could guess from the earlier discussion.Consider negotiating your purchase prices harder and "wholetailing" instead of rehabbing.