Join FB groups for your markets and get on the list of your local wholesalers.Get your finances together so that you know where your tax records are and how much you have for a downpayment and what your credit score is.

Tax compliance: Keeping good records of your income and expenses will make it much easier to file your taxes accurately.

You should be able to get a FNMA loan on the 4-unit, based upon 2 years of tax returns - but ownership will have to be in your personal name.Many banks will also lend on the 6 & 10 units with 2-3 years of tax returns showing they are profitable.

Essentially we paid the taxes, insurance, and electricity to live in the home.

We have a small fee for registering and the city (247 people) implemented a 1% tax in order to do some improvements.

Thus, my tax return will reflect the higher income in order for me to make purchases without the need for a W2.

You'd still get the tax benefits from owning the rental except for the interest payments you'd be making on a loan.If you want to start with buying a property outright then scale you could look into a HELOC to use the equity you have in the first house to buy the second.

Tax advantages are good but protection of my assets for my family is the most important thing but I dont wanna go broke with LLC's and HOI here in Florida either. 

Zoning and taxes are one thing.

You can start with the city website www.coj.net for the building department or property appraiser or the tax collectors office www.taxcollector.coj.net As for the structure of your deal just read the forums about llc v Incorporated and all the good information that can be found in there.One other thing I did with my units that many may not agree with is that I get a general liability coverage for each llc related to that llc and I would get an umbrella policy for you as well.