Is it enough to just visit a couple time to get validation on desired location or is a 6-12 month stay needed?

I am just getting started out in multi-family investing, so would like look into smaller apartment complexes (less than 10 doors).

Nothing in mine yet because I'm still preparing myself to open an US bank account but the banks I saw online requested ITIN which I don't have.I just DM'd the contact info for Elliott.  

I'm wondering if cost seg can still be done just without taking the added bonus depreciation - it seems that perhaps it can. 

Should I use it to build the big house and house hack (probably around 500k) ; or should I just take out enough for a down payment on a new property.

Just look for a good deal meaning any home that is priced well and it cash flows out of the gate is a plus.

They create the team and a plan, acquire, due diligence, take care of loan products (If needed), oversee construction/renovation, hire property manager (or run in house management,) take care of accounting/taxes/K1s, deal with closing or refinancing.An LP (limited partner) just puts in the funds (after hopefully vetting the GP and team) and keeps fingers crossed while earning mailbox money. 

Unfortunately having title issues is one of the reasons that sellers are sometimes willing to do seller financing simply because they know mortgage companies won't approve without proper title work and title insurance so they have to be more creative in the ways they sell but that can be risky for you as a buyer.If you do seller finance I recommend having very specific terms on HOW payments will be made and accepted and using a professional service like https://www.agecroftcapital.com/ for loan management in the case of any disputes - just my personal rec, not sponsored by BP though I do work for BP :)

It’s just  that I have no accounting experience and I created my own spreadsheets when I started this (I created and know my own system, not this one).

That's just my $.02 but I'm sure others have been operating differently with success.As for neighborhoods, West Side, South Buffalo, Kaisertown, decent sections of Black Rock and Riverside, pockets of North Buffalo, maybe some sections of Cheektowaga are going to fall into those categories.