Instead of putting money into a retirement account and losing general control of it, why not look for alternative methods to reduce current year passive losses and tap into prior year suspended passive losses? 

I though about giving real estate a try which is why I started reading online a bit about real estate, made a purchase order for the book "Rental Property Investing" and came across BiggerPockets. 

First, i would not furnish the places, it will probably get trashed, let them get there own furnishings and make sure that the lease says they must remove them from the property when they leave. i would have them pay for utilities, to an extent - have them pay for electric, supply the heat but give them an allowance for certain amount of months ( especially if you have older furnaces and they run on oil heat ) if they go over then you charge them for it. i converted mine to gas with new furnaces, i include heat in mine, but i control the thermostat ( online, thermostat is locked at the house ). i also provide water / sewer and free internet.

My thinking is that I need to create a set of business accounts using my name as the owner and flow my income/expenses on these first two properties though those accounts and then have a separate set of accounts for the LLC activities related to any new properties.

I am a former accountant/financial analyst and current stay-at-home mom.

If you find a lender who does online appraisals or creative structuring, you might be able to find a 2nd lender.

Will the CU take into account that I am in the process of renovating when they do either an appraisal/valuation?

I've read some articles online about how LA is cracking down on landlords who boot rent control tenants out and convert their units into Airbnb rentals. 

Welcome to BP Account Closed references one of the great books to read on BP.

You can post what you do in your profile (and we encourage you to do so) but the only other place you can talk about your company or the services you offer is in the Marketplace.We do this to keep the forums free from spam and junk that clogs up most other online forums.