From my understanding, many require it be held in an entity name for compliance reasons. 

Understand the fees involved and calculate the total cost for an entire year of management so you can compare the different managers.

@Brett Coultas if you're a newbie, you want to be careful of an "investor friendly" agent selling you something they truly don't understand:(95+% of agents only know how to handle owner-occupied transactions - you can verify this by asking them calculate ROI for you or Cash-On-Cash!

Also as I understand it qualification for these loans are based on the property as opposed to the borrower.

BP is full of great content, so I strongly recommend you to have a look at the following resources: 1.

My advice would be to follow up with Vitaliy and pick his brain as much as he will allow.

According to our understanding:1) California does not recognize REP status, but we could claim it on our federal taxes, is this correct ?

Network with local investors to understand what formulas they're using.3.

Quote from @Rick Albert: I would talk to someone who understands this and explains the probability of success.

Understand that they all have an incentive to sell you a property.