If you have any questions feel free to send me a message and I'd be more than happy to help you get connected with some of these other essential people as well. 

@India H.When you're diving into real estate investing, especially through auctions, it's essential to have your financing and structure in place.

I'd suggest that there is essentially no tax implication for this as compared to your alternatives.

From 2nd Mortgages to 1st MortgagesWhen I started, PPR was buying primarily 2nd mortgages. 2nd mortgages is essentially loss mitigation (helping the borrower get back on track and stay in their home).

Essentially a syndication....

One word of caution: the court orders typically allow repairs to make a home habitable, i.e. rent-ready, but not cosmetic or similar non-essential repairs, like upgrades or additions.

Essentially it was necessary to "buy" cash flow with a higher down payment. 

We have an insurance policy on the rental house (through State Farm), that includes a personal liability section, which is essentially equal to our current net worth.Given that a tenant could sue for more than this if an accident occurred, we are thinking about adding either LLC or an umbrella policy (or both) as extra protection.Any advice on which way to go, and if LLC, any recommendations for a law firm or company the Indianapolis area?

My investments were all what they termed private placement and was essentially funds used for lending, buying notes and recently land trust.After MIdland sprun this on us, my spouse also has accounts, I did some research but didn't see a purpose to remove our accounts at the time.I have not been with ET long enough to give comment on them and what little "issues" occured were technical.

This means you essentially have to save buyers 3x(5k-10k) = $15k to $30k through negotiating, finding the best deals, adding value with your property management or contractor contacts, etc.Lawyers use flat fee, hourly, and contingency pay structures primarily.