I was told by a lender that if I wanted to put 10 under my name and 10 under my wife's name, we would have to sign a Free Trader Agreement - in basic terms, a document prepared for the purposes of waiving each party’s rights as to real estate and creating a right to obtain real estate independent of the other.

This is basically what I told him I was looking for with a little flexibility. 2-3 year contract, rent approx. 2,200 with approx 10% of that going into an escrow account for purchase of property at the expiration of lease and a 3-4% option fee.

Basically the IRS considers intent,  if you are buy and hold and are exchanging it  then it can be a 1031 but if you are basically buying to sell which is what a flipper does they will question it and you will get hit with the taxes and maybe penalties. 

Closing/title company, basically the same thing. $1,300, depends on the break down.

Basically do lots and lots of homework before you give someone your money. 

We started out Investing in small rental properties and have had good success with managing the properties. Long story short, we have picked up an additional 3 commercial and 2 residential properties to manage through...

I don’t see a problem with building your business with more units quickly, but I’d start off fairly basic (1-4 units) until you learn the ropes.

It will familiarize you with the basic terminology and benefits.

Basically my hold up is the expenses.

For a full rehab (new roof, new windows, new wiring, new plumbing, new kitchens, new bathrooms, & finishes throughout), I've been around $35 to $50/sf.So everyone's formula is going to be dramatically different depending on their market, property values, level of finishes, contractors, etc.Before you start to use someone else's quick rule of thumb or formula, you really need to understand the basics of estimating costs and putting together a scope of work.