A LLC will not provide any better protection at your point in investing and will only increase your operating costs and make it more difficult to get financing going forward.Insurance is the real protection, LLC is more for psychological protection.

It will end up saving you both a lot of time and increase efficiency.

I have a duplex that I am currently house hacking, which should cash flow about $400/mo when I move out, but am looking at the possibility of adding another bedroom or bath to one of the units, as well as possibly adding one or two units which could potentially increase the cash flow.

If you are over 50-60% start systematically reducing the introduction of moisture and increase ventialtion.Make sure the basement is dry, if not check your gutters, downspout extensions and get a dehumidifier.

You'd likely be able to increase rents for that property with renovations, but the higher quality tenants would be hard to come by.

You might agree that most real estate investors were attracted to real estate because of the control they had over their investment, and to outsource that control defeats the purpose, at least to them.  

I've increased my offer but I dont expect the seller to accept it.

Could be things like...Short termCash on Cash returncash flow Deal sizePrice per unitLong termIRRTotal equity increase Cap rate at resaleWould love your insights on which ones are most important and what numbers you use as a minimum for each before you would consider moving forward on a deal.Thanks!

This is just me but given the price:rent ratios in LA I'd rather not invest in that market.If you can find a great deal then by all means go for it but I'd be looking at out-of-state investments where I could get a better cash on cash return.If you grew up elsewhere or have local knowledge in another market I would look there as well to see if there are any more attractive deals.

I don't buy properties in problem neighborhoods or where I can't attract a high quality tenant.