However if you plan on buying 3-4units, there is a trigger rule for FHA, it is called the self sufficiency test.

What kinds of code updates should we expect this to trigger?

Through a 1031 Exchange, investors can roll over proceeds from the sale of a property into a DST without triggering immediate capital gains taxes.

You have to have the personal protection either way, at which point the LLC is less important.An accountant once warned me to be careful about using the LLC to manage the properties if they are not owned by the LLC because it could potentially trigger taxable events. 

You will get a lot of opinions on whether to own in your personal name vs. the LLC - be aware though that if you transfer them to your LLC now, you will trigger transfer tax which can be quite substantial.Going forward it would certainly recommend setting up LLCs to purchase your properties. 

First, will your lender trigger a due on sales clause?

Find a good agent and good lender, run some numbers, see homes and pull the trigger.

Am I correct to assume this is very similar to seller financing however without title transfer since there's underlying debt he doesn't want to trigger due on sale clause?

You could also forward to a personal address, but the address forwarding triggers address updates for some senders.

Thankfully before I ended up pulling the trigger, someone shared the whistleblower article on these forums...