We are husband/wife team doing repair, remodel, and renovate for others while obtaining homes to do the same and to flip to first-time home buyers or start-overs. 

My first goal is to obtain 3 properties over the next year.

HELOC is a inexpensive way and quick to obtain liquid funding for purchases.

Your Roth 401k/IRA is obtained with the same after-tax monies and passes tax free but you are not making passive income over the years, you have very limited options, and control. 

I just had to sell a house slightly below the appraisal price due to bad info obtained by my agent.  

And that's just some of the planning stage.I won't even get into the 25 or 30 different permits you'll be required to obtain, their costs and their impact on your budget.Now think about the Federal regulations that are in place from Wetlands to Flood Plain Issues to Storm Water Management to National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Systems to Erosion Control during the construction/development phases.

I would just set my rules for accepting dogs, including a blurb -  all dogs, no matter which breed, must obtain their AKC CGC designation within X timeframe.  

For example, if the name of the LLC is Buckeyes LLC, title on the deed would read Buckeyes LLC.Just like above, the LLC cannot obtain a loan and the IRA participant and other disqualified individuals are prohibited from using the LLC owned property for personal use.

There are Canadians that need financing that can be obtained from the seller or banks in the U.S.

I know I'll need 20% cash to obtain a mortgage for a rental property regardless of what I do.