If I can share the W9s and my identity over email/video call, that would be great.Any thoughts?

A few other positive things:If you have a home office it creates authenticity with the IRS and can diminish potential push-back you could get by claiming the deduction.Using an EIN helps prevent identity theft - stealing an EIN happens, but isn't as common. 

There is a nice neighbor woman downstairs with the identical unit.

Reality is that some people are going to purposely avoid investing in areas because [insert identity group here] primarily lives there.

At 350K, I've calculated my mortgage, interest, Property Tax, and insurance totals around $1700 which is identical to my Rent currently (gf would help me, but I could also afford on my own if I had to).

They can send the documents ahead of time to a local notary who can meet up with the sellers, have them sign in person and verify identity and signatures, then send documents back to the title company.

I live in a townhome with an identical one next to us, we are allowed to have dogs but they are not.  

While a member-managed LLC might be feasible with 3-4 members that know each other very well and have identical objectives; when larger groups are involved, it rarely happens.

Now purchasing an identical duplex 1 block away for $278k.

Assignment of leases--Our closer assured us that if any of the tenants decided not to pay rent on the grounds that we are not the ones who entered the lease originally, that they would lose due to the fact that the property was obviously sold to us, but we are in the process now of having the tenants sign new leases which are identical to the ones they signed with former owner.