Also, depending on the part of town the home is in, it may be a great rental for military families or individual military renters.

Most lenders allow you to vest individually or as an LLC.

This could be a temporary solution, allowing your girlfriend to have one unit, while you rent out the others individually until you save enough for your own place together.

The part about the LLC that I find a little difficult is financing - I think the lowest rates on residential are available to individuals.  

It ultimately depends on your individual investment goals and risk tolerance.

If you don't have multiple "REAL" private money lender individuals cash or 401's, It's impossible to SCALE and really grow. 

For newly constructed, purchased or renovated properties and also retroactive generally over the last 10 years, building components are properly classified into individual units of property and accurate recovery periods for computing depreciation deductions.

I have joined my local REIA and will be attending meetings next month, I have a relationship with an individual I trust (an older relative) who has offered about 150-180k to invest with me for my first deal(s) at a reasonable return, and I have started analyzing deals.

If you are owning, you might be able to fill another individual in there as you mentioned if there's room.

It can come from individuals or it can come from the bank.