Thanks ... interesting is all of Fairhaven pretty undesirable are there any areas that are nice areas with good school districts and lower crime, can you get a little more specific on why they cash flow better, such as typical rents for 2-3-4 BR apts and what about property taxes in that area.

Yes, it could be on an ever shifting mud zone.  

Assuming its just minor mud work total just with materiel 1k  max. .

The easiest and in my opinion safest way is to get up there and skim coat with hot mud (setting-type joint compound that you mix up out of a bag), wait for the skim coat to harden, then apply thinned all-purpose premixed joint compound with a roller, and then dab at it repeatedly with a texturing broom to achieve a random texture.

CAN (and WILL) get stuck in mud ruts, soft shoulders, etc.  

Our 3-season property (mud season is slow) has us at 107 nights this year.  

The way I see it, I have the following choices:Option 1 - Get a Wyoming LLC for anonymity, which holds the LLC the owns my rentalOption 2 - Get an LLC in my home state that owns the LLC in whatever state I buy a rental inOption 3 - Get an LLC only in the state that I buy a rentalOption 4 - Don't get any LLCs because I don't have enough property to need it and get an umbrella policyI am officially stuck in the mud trying to figure this out.

You bring the deal, the partner brings the money, and you split the returns.That said, either your friend is being really generous or there might be something wrong or undesirable about these properties.

Skim coat the walls with drywall mud to get it smooth or smoother. 

Ditto with the time and cost (possible evictions) of getting rid of undesirable tenants, not to mention the risk of additional unforeseen damages when unhappy tenants have to move out.Mom and pop owners are notorious for not counting expenses, not the least of which is their own labor and management.