As far as a quitclaim deed, that is an instrument that's used to transfer all rights and interest that an owner has in a property to another party. 

The default rule is that all securities must be registered, unless the issuer (you), the security, or the investor qualifies for an exception or exemption.Federal regulations cover the security side (PPM, syndication, issuing securities), but the state laws determine the local instruments (notes, deeds, lien instruments, entities).Even the lightest capital raise starts, for me, at a $10,000 retainer and can climb to $50K+ depending on how involved I have to get. 

I'm a medical instrument technician currently working for Roche Diagnostics and living in the Fox Lake IL area.

HELOCs should also be considered short-term instruments because they usually have a balloon payment. 

I do want to make sure here . . wouldn't the fact of it showing up on your credit report depend entirely on whether they have recorded the debt instrument? 

You could also look into some passive instrument like a Delaware Statutory Trust as a back up that move a little bit more slowly and provide steady but very unsexy income. 

If let's say I buy and hold this apartment for next 10 to 15 years and sell, do you think it is a good investment (equity + cash flow) compared to investing in REITs or other stock market instruments?

You can get by with a "lite" agreement initially, but in order for most title companies to distribute the funds to your private money partners upon sale or refinance there will need to be some sort of recorded debt instrument (like a simple mortgage or lien stating the terms). 

@Joseph Helms Congratulations on utilizing HELOC as an instrument for financing.

The two actions that were most instrumental in our growth were:1) Selecting full featured property management software with our first purchase so that we could focus on our processes.2) Developing a working relationship with a local portfolio lender that specialized in regional multi-family so that we could avoid issues with DTI.