I am new to the whole idea of real estate investing since my parents didn't go to college so I never had anyone teach me how to be succesfull.

I stumbled upon a guru teaching wholesaling about a year ago and gave it a shot. 

@Doel GonzalezYou and your wife can purchase up to ten properties in each of your individual names.

I think maybe I need some type of a 24 volt timer that I can wire to the individual zone valves (each unit has one zone and one t-stat.

There are plenty of ways to use OPM with other individuals through their own funds and SD IRA funds from a seasoned trustee company like Quest IRA, IRA Services, or Udirect.  

I'm looking into having a page on my site in order for individuals to leave their information.

I'm usually the one at my work who teaches everyone else about real estate.  

I recently stumbled upon a situation where the individual was selling an FHA home after living there only 3 months.

I decided to pull in a group of friends (none of us have a whole lot of money individually, but together we have more than enough money to get started.)Something we're taking into serious consideration is the option to create an LLC to use as a means of acquiring property.1) Is this a good idea?

As for private lenders, that's a different story since they are individual people who may be happy with the arrangement you propose as long as their investment is secured and they receive the return you promised.I would think that the rates you would pay a private lender would make the investment a loss since you're going to be paying a higher rate.