Involved in the medical field so my whole life, my education has been focused on sciences, so very limited exposure to the business world unfortunately. 

Why would you put substantial risk exposure up for a small sliver of something??

Your risk exposure is minimal otherwise you better have a good exit strategy for other plans.

Trying to limit exposure of the SRPD when the seller lived and occupied the property.

We have a few rentals in Los Angeles but have very limited exposure to Seattle markets.

Scratch the LLC, that's just an ego thing until you've got something that increases your exposure, and when you have some assets to protect.I've bought and sold close to 100 properties, held as many as 16 rentals at one time, and I've NEVER had an LLC.

You will still have the buyer's agent that find the house through the MLS and you have to pay them (figure that into your numbers), and, you are right, you can't schedule simultaneous showings; however, by doing your own advertising you will find some buyers on your own and you can schedule multiple showings that way.I list on MLS (when retailing) for exposure and hope we find our own buyer (hopefully without an agent) before it sells through the MLS.

In a depreciating market where buyers are few and further between, it is important to price your properties at the lower end of the comps to get the best exposure and get the property sold.

Based on my limited exposure to the new construction space:Big time builders/developers are building at $70-90/sqftInstitutional restoration companies rebuild at around $100-125/sqft High-end prefab is going at about $150-190/sqftMulti-family prefab is going at $140-220/sqftWe have bids for high-end customs ranging from $210-250/sqft (just building to shell). 

So you will need to purchase a separate Liability policy.You should know There are insurance policies that combined the builders risk/ Liability/ vacant building exposure.