We'll have had what seems like a valuable conversation, and then they will ask what color house I prefer, or what the "1% rule" is, or if I prefer wood/metal fences.

Any contractors you prefer to work with?

There's nothing wrong with doing so but I prefer not to (mainly because with the exception of my primary residence no agent has ever brought me good deals).In my last deal the seller's agent was the dual agent.

Most of my markets generally prefer clean and modern compared to all original restored.

I was told that attorneys working on contingency prefer cases where damages run in the millions, like a business exec being killed, rather than damages in the range of hundreds of thousands where the victim is only a student with no children.Oh, you mentioned an LLC.

And hopefully in a year I will be familiar with the local market and have formed my own preferences on local communities.

Bear in mind that I'm not interested in flipping or extensive rehabs, so I'm in a particular niche. 

I'm eyeing another deal, and while I can source the 20% down with cash on hand and HELOC from main home, I would prefer to have a a good amount for renovation.

I’d Prefer to pay off Any non 30 yr debts associated with a project before starting another.

I believe in the Millionaire Real Estate Investor the book said of all the millionaire real estate investors that were interviewed the overwhelming majority preferred to keep at least 20% - 30% of equity in each deal to protect against downturns as opposed of being leveraged to the hilt.