Or give any one area a leg-up, besides the initial players like Virginia. 

Those are the players for residential...commercial the same way.

I will admit they are better than some other big players, but can certainly find better rates out there. 

They then missed out on several more years of growth because they got out of the game and waited on the sidelines for things to look better. 2010 to 2012 was the period that cash investors were the players or those with IRA keep in mind investor loans were still basically non existent in those years for all those expect very well to do Investors beginners were not getting investor loans. 

Once the property is owned directly by the partners, each partner can individually decide to engage in a 1031 exchange with their share of the property.

@Greg ReeseMost small investors will benefit by having the LLC created in the state where the property is located at.Creating an LLC in a state like Nevada, Delaware, Wyoming may be better for the big players if items such as charging orders, business friendly case law, anonymity are important to you.However, be mindful that setting up LLC's in those states will add to your costs as you may have increased annual fees for annual LLC fees + registered agent fees.

My realestate agent keeps pushing me to sell them individually, and I really want to keep my tenants with a landlord.

Lenders desperately need/want business especially in this interest rate environment (right now, the main source of mortgage loan business in Florida is rehab financing as a result of the hurricane damages) and one way the big players differentiate themselves is by streamlining the process.

I started diving back into learning by reading the Real Estate Rookie and was hoping to put myself out there and find some like minded individuals that are in the beginning stages of their investing career as well.

Many investors start their journey by diving into individual distressed property deals, but if you want to grow into a high-volume operation, it’s essential to change your mindset, strategy, and execution.