Well, this is a wonderful thread.All I can really contribute with enough experience to be absolutely sure of what I say: if you live on the coasts and your spreadsheet tells you your best passive returns over the long haul are going to be in the Rust Belt in cheap rentals, then your spreadsheet needs to be looked at by someone with a lot more experience in cheap Rust Belt rentals than you have.My own take on the musings here of why everyone wants to quit their job these day and its possible connection to young people and their participation trophies, their possible work-ethic failings, moral turpitude, contemptible world outlook, lack of grit, et hoc genus omne...yeah, I know I don't know squat about all that.

Any transfers should be made through the owner of the LLC and not another LLCSo you make a capital contribution or capital withdrawal.

I definitely prefer to be an asset and not the kind of small business person that doesn't enrich or contribute. 

Is there a gym or cafe for the workers?  

Thank you in advance for your advice and connections – looking forward to contributing to the community as well!

If I am in your shoes I would buy 2-4 units, get a conventional loan, ask the sellers to pay for the max contribution (3%) towards closing costs.

Since this is minimal service, to minimize your hourly payroll time, you could consider a solution like ZenDesk for client question intake, and have a VA respond as appropriate and escalate to a licensed agent, though this will have the knock on effect of requiring more systems or contributing to lower client satisfaction when they can't reach an agent. 

Keep tracking equity contributions, as this will be crucial when transitioning property B into a rental or selling your share.

@Jessica HowellIn the operating agreement we typically put like $1,000 as initial contribution.

Obviously, there are other factors that can contribute to the cost.