Fortunately, I have a 401K through my job and have built up some equity from my primary residence.On the other hand, my mom, who is turning 60, is facing retirement without any dedicated funds.

An asset protection lawyer would likely recommend a separate LLC for each rental property you own because this limits your liability in case of a lawsuit (usually to the holdings of that LLC). 

The equity portion will end up being the positive with the buy and hold method, so I’m looking for a way to be creative to get to a better income flow/better return.

What is holding us up?  

On the other hand, if you have a lower budget, let’s say $100-$150k.

Investment Info:Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

One home is completely hands off and works like clockwork. 

Best brokerage hands down!!

In Tampa it's common to find an entrepreneur that is running there own business and this allows me to verify how much cash they have on hand and assists me in calculating their debt to income ratio.3.

The same holds true for investment properties as they do any loan, with regard to when you closing and not having to making a payment for a specific period of time.