I am a Realtor and a co-owner of a real estate investing company.

An LLC might not be needed, maybe just a co-ownership agreement depending on what you have going on and your relationship with your partner. 

A buddy of mine lives in an even smaller town a bit closer to Wichita, and he rents out space in a similar setup -- the landlord accidentally turned it into a co-office type of setup - building was an old bank he got really cheap at an auction (think $60-70k) and he was getting around $2k or so in income from it, renting it out to a hair salon, my buddies online business, an accountant, one tech guy etc and he really didnt do much to make the inside appealing at all other than paint.After reading through some of what I posted below do you think this is risky?  

There are many co-ops in NYC and I've heard plenty of stories about a co-op board rejecting a buyer because they thought they wouldn't be a "good fit" for the building.. these were celebrities usually who the board thought would be partying to much probably but basically any excuse will do other then race, sex etc...

I would not do a co signer.

They are going to need a co-signer(s) and I am wondering what the generally accepted practice is for credit/background checks and co-signers?  

I'm requiring that each one fill out an application, and at least one of them has to meet my minimum income requirement of 2.5 times the rent amount, or get a co-signer who can.

My husband and I are wanting to get a multi-family and are thinking a great way to get my brother involved is the following:My brother would get an FHA loan for a triplex or 4-plex in FloridaI would put the 3.5% down payment as a co-borrowerMy brother and his fiancé would live in one of the units for a few years rent free so they can save money for a houseMy brother would manage the property by showing units, cleaning them when someone moves out, and as much maintenance as he can handle on his ownI would handle the finances paying the mortgage using the cash flow and keep the profits since my brother is living rent freeMy brother would move out eventually (2 or 3 years later) and we would refinance into a regular mortgage so that he can get another FHA loanWe would begin splitting all profits 50/50 once he moves outMy question is, has anyone reading this done this before?

Even after buying my house, I continued looking at MLS both for the "dream house" and for "project houses" to rehab and sell or rent.It wasn't until a co-worker of mine started talking about rehabbing houses that I began taking a serious look at whether this was a worthwhile venture for me and my family.

A co worker here introduced me to the whole selling game a couple weeks ago, There is a lot of money to be made in this field, i started by driving around neighborhoods looking for distressed properties.With my mother most likely being one of my first investors I could use the whole selling tactics to find great deals send them to my mother and help her with the rehabbing thus getting my foot in the rehab side of real estate.Any advice is greatly appreciated, and if there's anyone in the DC/MD/VA area i am always looking to network, I dont know much so it would be a great help learning from someone who's already in the position i want to be in.Thank you