You may even be able to get in touch with a larger lender that operates in your state.

Personally, I think it would work much better as a multi-family co-operative housing situation but that is a whole other yarn to knit. 

So for him and he had a big operation 6 to 10 projects going on at the same time..  

Generally, you cannot help taxes on rental properties by structuring.So you should evaluate it from two other angles:- asset protection which is an attorney's questions- operations, for which is overly complicatedAnd if you "don't have the best accountant" - maybe you should upgrade.

currently needing to upgrade a new property of mine and am stuck trying to figure out which would be my best option to go with: Combination CO2 & Smoke alarms that are 10yr sealed or just plain jane battery operated.

Can you review an Operating Agreement as it pertains to the tax implications and partners' capital accounts?

Also, your holding costs are essentially a reserve for operating expenses.  

It's hard operating without dedicated representation but it can be done.

One thing to go along with offers with expirations that Charlie has mentioned...in MA they are standing operating procedure.

If it is in the "chunky middle" of the bellcurve price-wise and quality-wise then you could expect to have a low vacancy, but my clients who operate on the top or bottom of the bellcurve in terms of price OR quality often have tenants who average 10-11 months of the year.