Additionally, should I form my own contract and make it a personal written agreement or should I get an attorney involved?

The ease of that transaction boosted my confidence and within the next year I bought an additional property near the same university.

The property in North Oakland was purchased with $100k discount, seller did the sewer lateral and some additional demo/cleaning of the property. 

If I acquire it, I could keep the current tenants there are forego the cosmetics for now?

Chris T.While we are not flippers, we do use a similar approach by purchasing tired properties and forcing appreciation: it is just rehab-n-hold as opposed to rehab-n-sell.When we are carrying out a deep retrofit on a newly acquired property, we will put a sign in the yard advertising another "modern, heathy and energy efficient home in the making"  with an indication of when it will be available for rent.We typically have the units rented before the renovation is complete.

I have a feeling that crowd is going to be growing significantly with the additions being made across I-79 near University Town Center.  

This one will get a full cosmetic rehab including tearing down interior walls, adding an additional bedroom within the existing living space, re-piping with pex, new roof, HVAC, and exterior stucco.

In addition to that, banks will only finance against the "lot rent" component of rented mobile homes on land.A $150,000 Park would need about 12 homes with a lot rent of $200 per month assuming a 50% expense ratio and 10% capitalization rate.If none of this makes sense to you I would highly recommend the Mobile Home University Due Diligence Manual.  

I'm interested in acquiring rental properties for cash-flow, not bets on appreciation.

Would a business license be required in addition to an LLC to do wholesaling, buy and holds, fix and flips?