The small banks are usually the best choice.  

If you have one of the major financial institutions (Fidelity, Schwab, Merryl Lynch, Wells Fargo, etc.) setup your plan then they as custodian will limit your investment choices to that of their offerings, usually stocks, mutual funds and bonds.

Whereas, liability only policies will have just as many choices as anywhere else.With all that said, I've found NREIG to be a good enough value that I don't need to do that. 

@Jeff Bisgier do you know an umbrella policy and a llc isn’t a either/or choice?

Then it takes a few weeks to have your actual license delivered to the brokage of choice.

Should I keep things consistent and use the exact same flooring and counter choices in both sides? 

@Henry Murray just curious--how did you narrow your choices of markets down to Houston and Indianapolis?

Eli,Multifamily properties are a great choice for cash flow if you can find one and make the numbers work.

Haven't had any issues with it, and fees are pushed to tenant as part of the application fee so it's an affordable choice as well

It's like Chess, many choices.