The heavy lifting is in WORKING the deal, not uncovering a potential deal.

Insurance is still an annual dog fight via my broker.Read your policy very carefully, consider replacement costs will probably be higher than estimatesResiliency is a requirement here.As far as sell or not....it'll depend on your determination to be here.This ain't the burbs of the bay area.Prepping for heavy rain right now.

They are a great vehicle in so many ways.

First it sounds like this may be a "heavy rehab". 

If it is a heavy value add deal, the calcs become a little more complex. 

What kind of account or vehicle would you suggest to start saving down payment money for my first rental property?

If you are heavy on stocks and want to balance sure, go ahead.

This stock income (LTCG) along with the rental properties in Chicago, we have a life of abundance at the moment.With that being said, the rentals in Chicago do a portion of the heavy lifting by eliminating the housing costs completely while adding $1k extra each month to cover Cap Ex and other expenses.

If you are a solo-preneur, you can tag another investor in the group to assist.We have action-plans and drips for investors to use for lead generation via call, text, email, door knock, driving for dollars Most of this is done out of the box versus heavy configuration and customization like other systems. 

They just talked about this in the latest BP podcast episode.You could also do what I did and what some of my clients have done, which is we use our LA properties as a vehicle to buy more properties.