The contractor can put a lien on the property , he could sue you in small claims court , or in some states have you arrested for theft of services . 

I started by setting aside a percentage of my income every month, treating it like a non-negotiable expense.

Would love to have a chat about your specific situation to see if I can help be of service to you or point you in the right direction!

The service fees end up being around 20.75% if you hire a "host" or property manager to make the investment as passive as a long term rental. 

Also if it is intended to possibly be a rental you should calculate the end result of the acquisition, the debt service, the rehab, etc and pretend to get a loan to refinance. then look at the potential rent to offset that monthly cost and see if it would cash flow.

Or, the trust (with trustee other than yourself) owns the property with LLC as beneficiary.Costs: LLC registration, annual secretary of state fees, agent for service fees, bookkeeping fees, tax prep fees, attorney fees to unravel structure mistakes, others I can't think of.Also, there are challenges getting title insurance, property insurance and loans for a trust.This is a way to get your name out of public record, no comment on whether it's good or bad. 

Any 'non corp' person or entity that you paid more than $600 in a calendar year for your rental needs to be 1099d.     

Non-issue.

Most LLCs are set up for liability protection or similar non-tax reasons, and especially in CA, the penalties for "non authorized" practice of law are steep that a lot of CPAs will not even form the LLC for their clients. 

The REA I was with previously didnt seem to think I was a very important customer...slow responses, non-specific answers to my questions, etc.