Is anyone able to answer this.......From what I've gathered during my research on the internet, if I buy stock in a public traded stock, no one can find out what I've invested in,  so an LLC is not needed? 

You stumbled upon one of the best real estate investing sites on the internet!

A step into that direction included me getting involved on the internet.

I have not run the background check yet, I just did a quick search on the internet. 

Congratulations, you have found one of the most valuable free resources on the internet for real estate investors new and old.

Just grind it out and set smaller goals/tasks that will help you achieve your 12 deal goal.

You stumbled upon one of the best real estate investing sites on the internet!

I rent out an apt/condo, I rent out the rooms.Utilities are included with the rent..When doing this it's important to put on lease your utility Caps and to be clear.For example for water my cap is $50 anything above it gets divided by 4 (each tenant)What I notice is very important to these tenants is high speed internet they typically don't even watch Cable TV.

I'd call the bank before I walked in, but you can usually get most of the basic information off the internet such interest rate, minimum amount, etc.

I've managed several properties that didn't have separate meters and typically I use the "all utilities included except internet and cable" as a major selling point for tenants.