After you have a little experience under your belt you will likely find the one common problem you have most often will be not enough funding to fund the opportunities that you will find.

We just started this year and already have 2 duplexes under our belt, refinancing one and hopefully will be getting a third one before the end of this year. 

Be sure to ask them what kind of investing they do, as well as how many deals they have under their belt.

It felt good to get one under our belt so to speak.

There will be pros and cons in all the markets.Money is made in R.E. a cross all 50 states.I assume your looking for a cheaper market as you do not want to invest in California.Most of the Midwestern rust belt markets are very similar.It's really about you and the connections you are able to make.

My goal is to flip a house to get some experience under my belt.

I've been a RE agent in the past, Hubs in a General Contractor... we have two flips under our belt, both of which were under contract within 2 and 1 week, respectively. 

My question is, with me having 3 properties (1 rent ready) would It be necessary for me to have an LLC or would it be smarter to wait until I add more properties under my belt?

Once you get a few good flips under your belt you may have enough cash to retain a couple of your acquisitions for rental income.

We are definitely looking at diversifying into LTRs as well, once we have a few STVRs under our belts.