If you are a QREP (qualified real estate professional), you will have more flexibility matching your losses and gains. 

If you are going to continue to invest out of state then I would try and figure out your goal then narrow down on markets that match that goal, since inventory can be much different from city to city.

These are things you want to add in to make a good match.

I do not know if the DBA option will work, but I am currently trying it because I have a check made out to the trust and the LLC I set up 17 years ago did not match the trust name. 

I feel like a ping pong match in my head over this!!! 

We are paying seller financing through title company so we have good records along with bank statements matching those payments so that part should be easy.

Maybe a money partner could stretch his dollars but if he is a successful contractor he can probably find financing himself.Having a regular contractor you work with consistently and can trust is great, but in my experience so far, the idea of actually partnering with a contractor and the reality of partnering with a contractor have not matched up. 

I am an advocate of long term employer matched 401K investing. 

Disadvantage - maintenance having to paint every 7-10 years Vinyl:Advantage - easy to clean, durable without much maintenance (can last 25-30 years)Disadvantage - can make an otherwise unique property look cheap/generic, more expensive, hard to match if section gets destroyed I think it depends on your hold period, the house itself, and the neighboring houses.  

Good property managers are golden and it takes time to find the right match!