Hey so what do you all think I have similar situation as Patrick where I manage my own units.I'm not a big fan of bookkeeping but I at least try to do a lot of my accounting with quickbooks...

The savings can but quite a bit but do require additional tax costs due to the corporate return being filed as well as a little additional bookkeeping.

Or your local bookkeeper/accountant.https://payroll.intuit.com/additional-services/1099/efile-1099

Cons:cost more to setup, cost more each year to file taxes, can't take out conventional mortgages, interest rate will be higher if you cash out with a commercial loan, more paper work and book keeping.

I have decided to hire a part time bookkeeper.

Am I able to deduct the business meetings, travel, etc. under my LLC since if it were just me I could simply run my properties through this without having the hassle of another LLC and additional tax return/bookkeeping.  

Is $990/year plus $30/month too much for unlimited mentoring, filing business and personal taxes for state and local, the start-up ECE filing, and bookkeeping software?

As long as you book keep this correctly with your accountant, it really is no longer a HELOC contribution, because the money now belongs to the LLC. 

You still have to run the same process regardless as there are bum tenants in nicer areas just not as many of them.Biggest mistake I see is buyers getting sucked into the thought process of a B property running at 45% costs and then seeing a 6 cap for it and then seeing a D property at a 9 cap at an area and only accounting for 5% more costs.You have to be local to the property, expect very high management fees and a specialist company that is trained to deal with those type tenants, double bookkeeping costs for collections and payments, etc.I personally in GA have watched over the years for multifamily you could get great areas at  a 9 cap.

Good bookkeeping practice.Odds are good this contractor is asking for cash as a means of tax evasion and you would be smart to not participate.