You may want to consider that as an alternative retirement investment vehicle, it has number of advantages over an IRA LLC:Custodian is not required (eliminate all custodian fees)Get checkbook control without the need for an LLC (trust is used as a vehicle to hold 401k plan assets), you have full control over the plan assets as trusteeAvoid expensive CA Franchise tax of $800/yrExempt from UBIT on leveraged real estate Ability to take a personal loan from your 401k, any time, for any reasonContribution limits are 10X higher than an IRA (up to $61,000 for 2018)Tax-free investing using Roth sub-accountAbility to correct a prohibited transaction and moreRegarding your questions about getting a non-recourse loan: this is an asset-based loan so the age of an entity is irrelevant.

Placing buildings on the registry actually restricts what you can do to the building, so it could be considered a limitation to the value.

I personally dont contribute in the Retirement plan right now because I can always resume when I am making more money, and plan to have other kinds of Retirement plan that will let me contribute a lot more than normal limitation for an employed worker. 

Furnace goes bad, you switch it out, chimney goes bad, easy to line it, the brick's modern and hard and so is the mortar, gas lines are minimal and limited to basement and kitchen above at worst, and all the interiors are finished using materials and measurements easily compatible with more modern housing.

When doing your first property, it's hard to buy something that needs lots of work (unless you have lots of free time), so you're stuck looking at undervalued nicer properties that don't stick on the market long.What made it hard for me is that both myself and my wife needed to look at the property before buying, and with kid events every night the time to go look was super limited. 

We are not limiting our search to a local CPA because we intend on doing long distance investing. 

I suggest a condo because the maintenance is minimal, the sq ft is limited, so you’ll be able to control your expenses (typically) better.

What area should I start up my LLC? Where I live with my buy and hold properties or where I would like to invest out of state where buy and holds are cheaper?

If you start out with three to five good deals that you've been able to quickly do some value adds, you should be able to start buying with cash, and from there you are only limited by the number of good deals you can find. 

They monitor transfers and will appeal the taxes if they suspect some thing; it is only paperwork to start the process.As well there are certain risks / issues you should be aware of;- As noted above, you have to take on the sellers original purchase cost which limits future depreciation- If there are / might be any outstanding liens, they will be yours to deal with- The tri-annual re-appraisal, is being done this year.