I have purchased many properties without a tenant in place.

Quote from @Landon Sheveland: Hello,My wife and I, are attempting to purchase our first property.

If you are going to be doing the rehab work in exchange for equity then that value needs to be determined up front with a specific timeline that you have to adhere to in order to earn your equity.

You should consult an attorney or CPA for your specific situation.ANONYMITY: When you create the LLC, your name is recorded on the documents and published on the Secretary of State's website for all to see.

I'm looking to categorize my buyers and blast out a text message to specific groups whenever I get a property that fits their criteria.I'm sure services like this exist out there but I'm looking for the most cost effective one and I'd rather hear the best from you guys rather than from the salesman pitching their product.Does anyone use a platform like this and how does it perform for you?

Both properties have a substantial amount of equity that’s essentially sitting idle.Would it be a good idea to tap into this equity (through a HELOC, cash-out refinance, etc.) to fund future fix-and-flip projects or purchase additional rental properties?

Seems like too much work for too little return UNLESS you own the property, or perhaps have an option to purchase the property allowing you to capture any increase in value.   

This allows you to use all of the tax and deferred depreciation recapture to purchase the larger MF propertyA consolidation exchange is where you sell multiple investment properties to purchase a larger and nicer investment property, but you also get the benefit of using all of the tax you would have had to pay to your advantage.

Without know more specifics, I'd suggest selling what you have now and investing in properties closer to where you live (and pursue 1031 exchanges).

I purchased a single family to rent out the rooms and it sent my finical plan completely off course because I was not as ready as I previously thought.