I have so many questions though.1) Can anyone tell me more about series LLC and whether it's necessary to hold each property in a separate LLC2) What are your thoughts on a trust, rather than an LLC - advantages, disadvantages etc?

You should invest where you feel you have a competitive advantage.

It allows you to take advantage of a low down payment loan.

That being said we as private investors can use this to our advantage and find some successes in POH parks or mixed POH/TOH parks. 

@Tamika Davis One of the biggest advantages of most software on the market is to complete these tasks you mention (maintenance, leases, rent collection, etc). 

Like you, when I'm working with clients I highlight the key advantages of the conventional rehab loans (Fannie Mae's Homestyle and Freddie Mac's CHOICERenovation) are:- They can be used for investment properties- You can include luxury items- They have a higher limit – $806,500 in most places.Jeff

The tax advantages of buying/holding gas stations are pretty great.Many of the components of gas stations including pumps, tanks, external parking areas, and other equipment are classified as either 5 or 15 year property so you can bonus depreciate a lot of it (minus the land value) and get significant deductions in year 1.With the 2025 bonus depreciation rate at 40%, a $1 million gas station acquisition could still lead to $100K+ in year 1 deductions depending on the specifics of your deal.

I would like a payoff planner that helps me navigate the various maturity dates and interest rates of my (15 due in 5) mortgages so that I gain the best financial advantage when paying down principal balances. 

Instead I want to take advantage of the opportunity I have of living rent free to invest my time and money in STR's to hopefully build that portfolio up and eventually make that my main source of income (I understand that will take time).

This doesn't mean lying to your tenants and saying that you do not own the property, but at the same time, just because you intend to live in one of the other units, do not let them take advantage of you.