You want a variable rate, 20 year amm, 5 year loan with a balloon payment and rights of the creditor to call the note due without notice,  by all means, go ahead and finance your rentals as an LLC.  

As my investing career started to grow more and more local investors (absentee owners) would receive my yellow letter.

I think I will put some time into the letter so I am not degrading and just letting her know we are here to alleviate the headaches for her.

The tenant gets a mailed a certified letter to their last known address, as @Gail Kaitschuck said.

In hindsight, we allowed ourselves to put too much scope into the renovation, and cost overruns have caused our planned investment amount to balloon to 340k.

And to clarify, I do plan to use an attorney to structure the formal lettering of the agreement.

It needs about $70,000 in repairs.Going to the City on Monday to see if I can try to stop the demolition with a letter from a licenced contractor confirming they will repair it.

To be an FHA direct lender you need to meet the following requirments: 1)Certified original audited financial statement with adjusted net worth of at least $250,000 that has been prepared within the last year.2)A senior corporate official showing at least 3 years of experience handling FHA affairs (loan origination and servicing background) 3)Multiple credit and background checks to verify legitimacy of the heads of the institution.4)$1 million warehouse line of credit or equivalent funding program to show liquidity and lending power.5)Business plans, quality control plans, E&O insurance policy, sanction letters, fidelity bonds and other formalities to provide security.As you peel the onion it makes more and more sense why some lenders offer certain services & products and why others simply don't qualify to do so.

Also, have the agent pull owner's contact info and send he/she a handwritten letter asking if they're interested in selling.

On multifamily, certainly figure out the vacancy situation, and see what comparable apartments rent for, which is crucial to your underwriting.On retail, see if you can get at least an indication of interest letters from a national retailer.