In my case, I have residential rentals in one LLC, commercial properties in another, self storage in a third, and my real estate company operates in a fourth.

The loan is with you, not with your tenant, so none of that means anything to them - in fact because you live in one unit and it's under 4, if you were self-managing you don't even have to abide by fair housing laws (at least on the federal level). 

Fannie Mae will allow you to transfer the deed to an LLC if you decide to try to go the conventional route, but the loan would still be in your names and you'll need to pay a title company a second time post-closing to do this  for you. 3) I can't speak for the area so no comment there4) If you're self managing, make sure you find vendors you can trust in the area since you won't be able to easily verify if an HVAC guy, plumber, etc. is trying to rip you off and tell you to buy something you don't actually need. 5) Make sure you have clear alignment of goals and a clear operating agreement that spells out what to do if those goals start to not align in the future since you'll be jointly obligated to these properties. 

As far as self managing, it’s fairly easy.

Private lending, if done effectively could give a beginner the contacts, experience and market insight to be ready for the right value add buy and hold.

Sometimes, buying an existing property can be more cost-effective and less time-consuming and maybe require slightly less permits, etc. 

If you’re interested in investing in real estate, you can consider doing so with a Self-Directed IRA to defer taxes on capital gains until you actually withdraw the funds from your IRA.

To leverage the equity for financing my next deal, a second mortgage seems like a more cost-effective option.

We are now at 21 doors under management and 3 are personal units that we self manage.

Curious how our self-managed 3-unit STR/MTR performs with industry expectations.