If they had 10K they'd probably buy a house- most renters are poor.

But it would not be enough to move the needle to be motivated to buy such property.

You don't need to set up any other communication system (like google voice or another email address) to avoid sharing your personal contact information, you can do all of that within the app.

Most big box brokerages are independently owned so you would have to join a new brokerage even if under the same umbrella.

I'm reading up on books and articles on how to do this but sometimes it's easier to join social groups or talk to people close to me that have done it before.Right now my goal is to get pre-approved for a loan and to learn from others.

I am just about to close on my first rental here in January.

You can add to your Chart of Accounts to account for owner contributions and movement of money between LLCs to help with the funds that flow from one account to another and for funds that enter the business with personal funds.  

However investing in DIRECT real estate investments differs considerably from investing in mutual funds, index funds, bonds, money market and REITs that most investors are familiar with.  

Generally speaking though, this asset class can be argued to be one other most management-intensive. 

A pleasure to join BP.