Makes me wonder why more of them aren't making proper efforts to educate themselves on value and instead think that a house selling for say $250K is a great deal because it is much cheaper than houses where they are from.

Many high school students who aren't ready to go directly to college/university will benefit from taking a year off to decide what they really want to do instead of going and 1-2 years in decide they don't like what they are doing. 

This can be a bit of a pickle, especially if you’re tight on cash reserves and both units aren't rented for a period.If you’re considering cash for keys, there are various ways to approach it, depending on how open the tenants are to the idea.

They can often be nicer knowing they aren't talking to a property manager and knowing that the place will be kept up nicer since you live there too.

Rates tend to be higher, since these aren't "conventional" loans that are going to be bought by Fannie or Freddie. 

They aren’t - they are a cost you incur and how you elect to determine what to charge the guest is a separate thing.

The LLC has nothing to do with this because you aren't getting a loan to a new LLC as a new investor with no track record unless you have a long-standing relationship with a local community bank or credit union.It's good that you have boots on the ground in Birmingham, but I can tell from the way you laid it out that you have done research online and made a plan based on this.

Hi, I'm new to this and trying to find alternative financing for a rental purchase. I've learned about hard money or direct loan companies but everyone I've talked to so far I can't really say I'd trust them with my p...

Wouldn't you say accountants have more to gain year after year with tax return prep if their clients were to have numerous entities requiring business returns to be prepared…..I am not suggesting  there aren't attorneys out there who upsell services.

Newbies aren't penalized for lack of experience here.