I would make a point of making this clear and identifying what makes you a better quality buyer than the next person who would buy his houseHope this helps

I'd suggest a blended approach maybe to further shore up your security.First take a look at those properties and identify the one (not your residences) that either have higher debt or are under producing what you think you could get with a different structure. 

You just need to identify the SEC exemption that you'll be using to do it.

Here's an article I would recommend reading and it also identifies a killer person to learn from in this path!

I am having trouble figuring out what areas are doing well in my region and identifying a good time to buy.

Chances are that you wouldn't trigger the due on sale clause.The lender can exercise the "due on sale" clause if the name(s) of the buyer are not the same name(s) as the members identified as the owners of the LLC.

We'd would like to identify a property management company that can help us understand the market, primarily which places would make the best long-term rental. 

I plan on doing a BRRRR project, and utilizing the calculators here, I have identified some nice multi-families worth pursuing.

I think it is important to identify what are those issues.

So each property would need to be researched to identify that data.