It is the judge's job so to speak to know the law but yeah having sat in more courts then I want to I understand it isn't always what the law says its whats easiest. 

At most I would give them a gift certificate to go out to dinner on me..... thats it.

Things like running numbers, estimating renovation costs, determining market rents are not things you can read a book and learn.Third, I think selling is the easiest part of my job. 

Also, please do not get "gift funds" from a family member if you plan to repay that gift.

Double gift!

The money part is actually the easiest—if you ask enough people, “Do you want to earn a return backed by a property with X amount of equity?”

They also make great closing gifts.   

If the LLC is solely owned by you, then this may be considered a gift from your sister to you which could be reportable by her, if your sister is a part of the LLC, then this is probably just a property contribution to a partnership owned by you, her and any other members involved in the LLC. 

In Raleigh, I have my investors focus near RTP as that is our economical hub and where the appreciation historically is highest (and easiest to rent).

The easiest way to do this outside of some sort of scraping tool (which i recommend digging into), is to develop a solid list of ways to look for deals (not just zillow or mls), and then develop a super specific buy box, then just create custom filters with notifications where applicable, you can also use a VA to look through the various acquisition methods and send you a vetted list every day.