I stayed in a STR with over 200 5-star ratings, and not a single negative.

Lo and behold, many of said states will require the foreign entity to disclose owners/members and such, negating your desire for secrecy. 

I tried using the biggerpockets rental calculator this morning and the cashflow was negative, but I may have been too conservative with the numbers.

@Jordan Moorhead I know of many single-asset syndications as well as funds that pay distributions but have negative operational cash flow.

I believe I hear what you are saying though, for sure -- that it's better, more fair, and more likely to get deals, if you yourself can show up to the table offering something.... in hard cashbut you still have to know how "fix and flip" works, how to renovate something, how to negotiate.... what contracts to do, how long things take.... etcthat was the concept I liked about Gator, is that it's a team that passes that niche off to the other person, who is good at that - and they can all structure deals together.... you have the deal guy.... the money guy.... the fix and flipper guy, etc. -- and they find deals that could be good for all of them - and everyone is helping each otherI think BiggerPockets will be a potentially pretty reliable place - I know that there's different roles, "finders", "buyers", "sellers".... maybe I can just find deals, and connect people together, and get some kind of small finder's fee for it, or something.... ok so that first 10-20k is important to just be able to provide - when getting into this....

But if you are okay with negative cash flow and want more the appreciation, new builds are definitely the way to go. 

I think this will correct itself over the next 3 - 5 years but it will make cashflow tight or negative until then.I have a great contact of a Realtor that works primarily with investors who has represented a few of my borrowers that I can share with you.

Also, the fees plus being a forced buyer with a deadline on a 1031 exchange may negate the small tax savings.

Just remember: most negative reviews are written by problematic tenants.

Everyone wants to share their negative stories about Property Management Companies and then make the leap to bashing ALL PMCs!