You can form an LLC as you are in the process of buying the property, just make the realtor know and the lawyers office or title co. know that it will be under an llc when you close, and provide them the information before the closing. some banks will lend to llc's, if its a buy and hold, show them all the financials and predictions that the property will make money and you will be able to pay them ( go in with something from your CPA or financial adviser showing your net worth too) right now i have 3 properties under their own llc, waiting for realtor to send paper work to sign for 4th as i type this. some people here will put each under their own, some will have an LLC that has as many as 5 houses before they form another llc. so you will get mixed answers on this. the house i am buying now will be a flip, so i will form a llc-s corporation for this one and future flips. but have been thinking of creating a parent LLC for my holds.

Using an average, you could reasonably try to predict how long yours would take and what your holding costs would be.

Sometimes these closings can drag in, while the delinquent taxes keep building up and up.This kind of clause might give you a little extra predictability in the numbers (anything in excess of said amount would simply be paid from the sellers proceeds).Food for thought anyway.

Unless you predict that the area you will be buying in is going to have significant growth.

Any 4-plex has a chance of being funded with a residential loan or a commercial loan - so this allows for potentially more funding options.LTV and appraisals are subject to change at the lenders' discretion, so it's hard to predict what you'll encounter.Only you know what your circumstances and goals are, so only you can really determine which is best for you.

If you're predictions are off and you buy a 9 unit, multiply the damage by 9.

It becomes even more predictable when they're able to begin with a significant 'rollover' stash of cash from another qualified plan.

I always make sure I'm 1% rule or better, >7% CoC and positive cash flow with the 50% rule (generally I'm predicting ~40%, but in case I've missed something, I stay conservative). 

Predicting the stockmarket to pull back drastically, then the housing will adjust accordingly too. 

But of course, nobody can predict these things with absolute certainty, there are just too many factors at play.