If you're bringing investor money to the table, that's yet another service you're providing critical to the deal.Whether you can have them sign an exclusivity agreement again comes down to a business negotiation.

Some custodians will go so far as to reject a LLC that was not prepared by a professional provider or attorney, as they do not want the liability of supporting an untrained investor going the DIY route.So, yes, the LLC operating agreement is necessary and critical to proper implementation of a checkbook IRA.

This is critical.

That allowed me to jump into neighborhoods slightly ahead of critical mass, which significantly helped to lock in my success.

This might not sound that important as a lot of people assume you can just get what you want when you want, but when the market is heavily favoring sellers (as is likely the case coming up with the rates dropping) it becomes critical to have that competitive edge.Not to spill it all out here on the forums, but for example, a good listing agent is going to vet the buyers when they have a stack of offers. 

Bring me your brutal criticism!

I've been criticizing BP for months for glossing over and flat out ********ting the realities of actually finding a viable deal, for the non-professional, retail investor. 

Partnering with a knowledgeable broker and property manager is critical to your long term success in these areas.

That is a critical question.   

You might end up hearing "no" from the first 10 you call but you only need 1 "yes"If you can find a run down property in a sought after area, and create equity in it through a rehab, you've got two paths forward after that... refinance as you've said or even just sell at a profit if you can't get the refi.The critical piece is running your numbers on the rehab as accurately as is possible.