I've been looking into investing in real estate on the side for about a year now and am ready to pull the trigger.

My only thought is if you are posting in other areas of CL that could trigger that error.

That means not enough knowledge about the market where you want to buy and not ready with funds to pull the trigger.

Bruce Rauner appears to be dead-set against the mayor’s plan to raise the homeowner exemption.Rauner has insisted on a two-year, statewide property tax freeze as part of the package of pro-business, anti-union reforms that triggered the state budget stalemate.Signing off on Emanuel’s plan to raise a homeowner exemption that now stands at $7,000 of a home’s assessed valuation could not only undermine Rauner’s agenda and weaken his political hand.

When you pull the trigger you don't want to hope it's a good deal you want to KNOW. 2. hard to say without more data.

Since you already own these properties you will need to discuss any change of ownership with a tax advisor to make sure you don't trigger a taxable event when organizing your properties.

Or would that make the lender suspicious and possibly result in the lender discovering that a sale occurred and triggering the due on sale clause?

I feel like I need to educate myself a bit more on all of the different options before pulling the trigger.  

@Ben Leybovich just chewed me out claiming I hung him out to dry:) For full disclosure, Ben is a genius ... not necessarily a RE investor anymore but a genius.

Todd, you might keep an eye on the oil job situation out there before pulling the trigger on anything.