Another problem with this is that I also flip and have friends that flip and buy and hold and if I run across a screaming deal I'll do my best to take it down personally or pass it to someone I know. 

In fact, many of their stories, just relied on, picking up a few investments in solid areas, taking care of them, and holding onto them for a long time. 

Currently, I don't really have wiggle room in my budget to rehab these properties to hold better value on the market, have mortgages on 3/4 of them, and 1/4 is currently rented.

I am trying to figure out whether the quality of renters and level of crime in the area would make it a good place for Class B quality buy and holds.  

I had to put about 25k of my own money into this first deal between the down payment, agent commission, inspection, closing costs, and holding costs, so I'd like to get as much of that covered as I can on my next deal.

Consider holding 1-2 units slightly below market ie. $50-$100 a month.

The tenant is less likely to trash a place or violate the lease if you hold a large chunk of money. 

😱If a person closes prior to, they need to hold back a substantial amount of funds in escrow.

She’s for real estate (I think market is over inflated) but in the past we use it for rainy day fund vs holding $ for repairs as well as acquiring property via cash to rehab and sell.Regarding equity shares I would read the fine print as from what I have read you basically are selling your sole to those companies for a small payout to start but giving up a ton of equity

For it to work for both parties you will have to do a little more hand holding and one on  one involvement than you would for a normal rental.