Builder grade granite (usually 3 flavors) vs higher end granite makes no difference.

From the sounds of it, you have some rental cabins that are of that flavor on the deal you described.  

If you never reach your hand into the cookie jar you never know how delicious the cookies might be, but if you consistently check for cookies, eventually you end up with one and they are freaking delicious!

The really delicious thing for you if you qualify is that you can claim the primary residence exemption once every two years. 

Ignore it.Most loan people you find at banks understand only one flavor of mortgage - a mortgage for an owner-occupant. 

If you go down that path, there are many flavors of LLCs depending on where you create your entity.

Weirdest things that I found in those were: a home made long bow, a sex swing along with various flavored lubricants, drugs and associated paraphernalia, a room full (and I mean FULL) of old newspapers and magazines just thrown in and a dead parakeet in a freezer.

Beautiful 2b/2b with a view of the ocean and beachfront amenities including tennis court, BBQ area, two pools, a swim up bar, two hot tubs, palapas on the beach, beach volley ball, a gym and a delicious restaurante.

If you force enough appreciation, you could finance out some of the equity you created and use it to buy non-owner occupy rental property with 20-25% down, or sometimes less if you can find a seller who is willing to finance on different terms.That said, there is no reason your flavor of real estate investing needs to mean buying rentals right off the bat.

I think the challenge with this group of investors is they are taught from some guru who makes it sound like buying notes is the equivalent of going to the grocery store and picking an ice cream flavor (readily abundant and cheap).