Hi BP,I own 2 rental properties in Baltimore MD and i am first having trouble deciding on whether to place them in an LLC or not (I plan to slowly scale and house hack a new property once a year).

Which is why you should work with a realtor, and preferably, a fellow investor to help you find rentals in areas that have decent rental returns, etc.

They want to start out wholesaling in their spare time to build capital to buy long term rentals. 

Now, that said, your location is still good as Athens is a growing area and I've heard positives about it from other investors - however, we do not invest there at all (we don't have anything west of the city of Madison), so I honestly couldn't give you any feedback on the rental market there. 

This was either a single family house rental or a duplex.

Verifying last 2 years of rental history very important!

But I want to keep it for a rental but not sure how to use other peoples money on a rental.  

With the townhome, my reservations is the rental competition as the area has many townhomes communities with units bought by investors, but I like the lower taxes and insurance rates. 

Note: no - you cannot exclude a mortgage in any case but what you can do is offset the obligation with income from rental income and/or notes receivable.

Quote from @Steven Westlake: @Bruce Woodruff - update - non renewal of lease, she left early February, left a mess, took 3 x 10 dumpsters.See pics below.This is why my handyman goes inside every rental property every 90 days to replace the AC filters.