Those options will both give you exposure to real estate, but could do so with less cash invested.Regarding your question of a SFH or duplex, that's tough to answer without knowing more.

Offering an incentive for one neighbor to undermine another is asking for drama and for you to be stuck in it when you should be avoiding tenant situations altogether ,not inciting tensions by offering a bonus .

I'm asking mostly because of the personal exposure I'd have if say, I did buy a 3.6MM building with multiple units.

Is everyone okay with the potential gift tax return exposure upon transfer? 

I simply let him do the work and bill me after per the quote.Speed has never been an issue but if it was I would add a bonus for completion by xyz timeframe.

I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything super critical as I intend to grow my portfolio this way and put these properties in separate LLCs to mitigate my personal exposure.

Any extra appreciation is bonus.

On the other hand, E. coli being in a dug well is practically expected because by their very nature, they are a hole in the ground collecting water and have a high level of exposure to potential contamination (and therefore it's really not a big deal...) - they are just going to throw some bleach into it, re-test until it is negative for EC and total coliforms and say "E. coli?

If they also do real estate investing personally, that's an added bonus (further alignment). 

Some expenses can be taken as bonus depreciation in year 1.