I wouldn't take on the construction risk if there was no profit to be gained.

I always counter their offer with a contract that is not assignable and seriously puts their deposit at risk.

My risk tolerance isn't super high and I couldn't sleep at night if I was leveraged like some folks on here. 

I'd rather pay the mortgage another month and get better quality applicants than to risk multiple months of rent not being paid because of a bad tenant.

I think holding in your personal name with an umbrella policy may be similar risk wise to holding the property(ies) in an LLC but with perhaps lower overall costs after factoring minimum taxes and fees associated with an LLC.Perhaps an atty could tell you what the process would be for transferring properties into an LLC, but I don't imagine it would be difficult. 

As you know, these appear more high-risk for banks.

Real world hands on experience is where I will get comfortable.I'm just trying to minimize risk during that learning curve on the first few deals so I don't get burned.I certainly won't let this stop me from moving forwards so I'll just have to figure out a way to make it work regardless.

I guess in my opinion purchasing condos is probably your lowest return on investment and the highest risk.

It is more about the risk you have when the balloon is due.   

So they want you to take the risk on a 30k rehab and when you're done, you'll basically be paying retail for the house.