Buying at the mortgage balance (~$150K) positions is under the fair market value and can trigger gift tax rules.

I currently have around 20k cash for a down payment and that is steadily increasing so I want to pull the trigger soon.I'm interested in Fort Wayne for a few reasons:- I have some family in the area (they won't be involved, but have some general knowledge of the area)- Decent schools- Low crime- Airport- Low pricesAny advice or connections are welcome as I am completely new to this.

The ATI exemption is a provision in South Carolina’s tax law designed to alleviate the financial impact of property reassessments triggered by transfers of ownership.

This is how you accomplish this: You can change the opt-out language in hopes that your sellers will not respond with words that do not trigger automatic opt-outs.

When you do need an LLC is with MF properties or when you have partners.FNMA, FHLMC, FHA & VA all have due-on-sale clauses that may be triggered by transferring via a Quit Claim Deed (QCD) a property from your name to an LLC.

We are about 2 years away from pulling the trigger on something.

I've been researching and analyzing for years and just could never pull the trigger. 

Will review more before pulling the trigger.  

Have been talking about getting into real estate investing for the last 2-3 years and finally pulled the trigger on a 3 unit house hack in Soulard that will be closing later this month and will be self-managing the property.I'm trying to network a bit with other investors, build a solid team of contractors / handymen, and set my systems up in way to scale, but also so my tenants have a good experience.

This is because those who househacked actually pulled the trigger and started to gain experience while those looking for strictly an investment were too focused on numbers and returns to get their hand and feet wet.You can put little money down and take advantage of favorable rates. its a no brainer IMO