Also, I would have probably gone crazy giving up control and leaving my retirement funds to the whims of corporate CEOs that mainly have their own self interests at heart.

This means that you will probably need to pay registration and filing fees in at least 2 states if you don’t buy CA property as a CA resident.Any lawsuits should be limited to the assets of the LLC and not your personal assets (assuming you run the LLC appropriately and the corporate veil is not pierced, some debate as to SMLLC).

I would have expected someone with 15 year experience plus their own accounting firm to know these things that I learned in just last few days (with your help, of course, and also thanks to @Basit Siddiqi @Eamonn McElroy @Taylor L.)But it’s possible that their specialization is something else (like corporate taxation) rather than real estate.

These days I have travel nurses and corporate rentals as MTR.

On the corporate side I have seen both SPE ("Special Purpose Entity") LLCs and Trusts used for holding assets, largely depending on what the buyer is looking to achieve.

Here are a few initial questions that I have: - I'm wondering if there's a recommended corporate structure for these type of business activities, focused primarily on both short-term and long-term rentals.

If I had to try and sum it up it would be: Form a corporate entity for asset protection; buy properties using leverage to maximize the use of your money; write off your expenses through your business  including depreciation, taxes, insurance, repairs, etc to maximize your tax deductions.  

if you talk to other investors that flip properties the majority will tell you that they have an S-Corp or LLC with S-Corp election. 

I'm still seeing a lot of these assumable mortgages go as cancelled/expired listings, I reach out to the seller directly as this is how I've built my Real Estate Agent business since quitting corporate just over 2 years ago.

He is young and very fit, so fortunately it looks like he will be okay, but it made me think about what my wife and I may need.When I quit corporate I was first in camp "screw health insurance and pay cash for doctor", but learned quickly there are some real limitations, plus in our screwed-up health care system you pay higher prices when paying cash.