For instance, 4 bed 2.5 bath. 4 friends come together to rent it? 

Most hard money lenders have one, even though in some instances it may not be required.

Don I agree, mostly due to #4 - that they are self-serving in most instances.

For instance, it may look like paying the $700 difference of renting your current property plus whatever your portion of the house hack would be (hopefully a significant amount less) and being similar to what you pay now or maybe a bit less depending on what you get for the house hack.

Probably the same companies who are peddling Wyoming LLC’s as an asset protection strategy….Just to be clear, there are instances where an intermediary management type LLC can provide protection but this and all other similar posts I read in BP are nowhere close to a fact pattern where that would exist.

For instance, if you want to do 2-4 units then West loop won't work, but Evergreen Park or similar areas might due to the housing stock. 

In that instance, the framing of the question is no longer around whether you should have an LLC for a syndication, but should you have an LLC, or various LLCs for all of your assets.  

The tradeoff on the joint financing is going to be the (refi) costs associated w any transfer of ownership, HOWEVER transferring title to the LLC is unlikely to trigger due on sale (b/c it sounds like most banks simply aren't monitoring and/or enforcing due on sale in these instances) which would make the ownership (sans the actual mortgage note) more easily transferable than exiting your position as an individual owner?

There have been some famous scientific studies that showed people were far more likely to want someone else knocked down to size than for themselves to be lifted higher if they perceived a situation was unfair.

This way, it saves time for everyone and keeps expectations clear.That said, I understand the frustration others are expressing, especially around proof-of-funds requirements for more conventionally priced properties—those under $750K, for instance.