Hi Collin,After managing hundreds of properties, I always keep an eye on short-term rental trends, especially in key markets like the Smokies.

If you do choose to invest out of state, the best advice I could give you based on what I have observed running a local real estate group here for over a decade is build your own team.

Rent out one side, either Long term, Short term or Mid-Term.  

So I'm interested in getting started in purchasing and running self storage facilities and want to learn more.  

Or can you still run everything through your personal return (just want to make sure that I can deduct things such as HOA fees which I can do if it is a rental).2) If I do decide to run everything thru my personal tax return (save on LLC fees), should I at the least set up a separate bank account to track costs separately?

There's long-term money to be made on that strategy.

I buy real estate but I carry debt which is actually tax deductible, my money works for me.

It can be funded with as much money (premium) as you want to put in it.Just to be clear, however, you do not "withdraw" money from a life insurance policy.

Lenders or investors who have short lock up periods but have years of experience feeding their business with new capital would give me more comfort but anyone who is just starting and is promising a rate of return or return of capital in a set period of time would be alarming because they very well could be reliant on fresh capital to make good on that promise and that usually ends poorly.

It's a free country, you can run your business how you see fit:)That doesn't really work for self-managing property owners or what investors want from the PMCs they hire.So, yes we find solid contractors at Home Depots on Saturday mornings.When's the last time you've been at a Home Depot during that time period?