I won’t do anything I consider morally or ethically wrong and I hate when I see other landlords who do.

By keeping up with relationships, and building trust by having a good work ethic and determination helps!

Hi @Jennifer McPherson, You will not qualify for 1031 Exchange treatment if you were living in the house as your primary residence. 

The only way you'd get that past the underwriters would be some deep misleading, and then there's the ethical quagmire of it.70% max LTV sounds to me like you are asking banks about refinancing into an LLC (i.e. you're asking them about a commercial loan on the refinance). 

It’s scary for me to think about bringing other people in considering the boundless reports of less than ethical business dealings some are exposed to.

Don't ask for a "mentorship" right away, show your work ethic and have good intensions and one will develop organically.REI isn't a get rich quick with little effort business, so anyone telling you it is is probably trying to take your money.Best of luck to you and be sure to update us so we can follow your REI journey!

The positive thing is that the older kids have a great work ethic, know the value of money and buying assets, and that duplex has catapulted us towards financial freedom.

You're making this overly complicated.Short-term rentals are complicated as is, and have different tax treatment than traditional, long-term rentals. 

If you can hold it long enough to get capital gains treatment you'll save some tax, or better year, get a Roth and do your flips in the Roth... no tax (but leave the money in).

Essentially we hadn't begun the process of putting together our spreadsheet that runs the numbers, knew what kind of properties we were looking for, or even how to be a proper and ethical landlord.