But, as a whole/portfolio, I was doing fine / better (because of the refi to lower rates) and it was cheaper since I only had to get 2 loans instead of 3.So, it sounds like you are doing something similar. 

The more energy efficient the shell is, the lower the cost of energy, which is highly marketable. 

Maybe negotiate with the family for a lower price that covers you in case you need to list it later for sale. 

We ended up having to do quite a bit of grinding and leveling and are still outside the flooring manufacturer's specs for flatness - would have been a huge investment to get there, so we just ended up getting it good enough so that we don't notice any obvious dips or bumps and praying that the flooring will be robust to the remaining issues.

I've heard great things about the cash flow and the lower home prices are extremely appealing.

Buyers who are shopping right now are able to leverage 3-2-1 and 2-1 buydowns to get their rates lower on certain properties that have been on the market for 4+ weeks, although we are still seeing mutiple offers in a lot of the popular zip codes and good school district areas.I'll be posting on this thread monthly to keep up with how the market is trending for all who are interested.

Aside from lower transaction costs and lack of full title insurance, what are the pros and cons of this technique?

Here is my take.An LLC can be beneficial once you get to a certain level.

The rent is lower than I hoped for; however, it is above rental market here.  

The only multis we do this for are MTRs that are furnished as the folks are there for transitional times/work, not for a LTR as it would be better to just lower the rent and not have the headache.