Biggest suggestion would be to make sure you are flexible, willing to work with multiple housing programs, and hire a good manager if you are not going to self manage the units.

Learning to manage tenants, property managers, and projects is a whole other set of skills.

Assemble a team of individuals who can split following responsibilities: contribute the earnest deposit money, guarantee the loan, find the deal/conduct the diligence, raise the capital and manage the building.

It's a good idea to talk to legal and financial experts about taxes, insurance, liability, rental agreements, and managing your finances.

He replied, "I don't know how you keep finding sellers willing to do that".Here is the secret sauce, know and understand the seller's motivation, ask questions, and don't be afraid to ask for the terms you want.It is more common in medium-sized multifamily where it is a business but not large enough to be professionally managed.

We bought a property out of state and that was extremely difficult to manage even with family and friends that were local and could help.As a property manager, we had an investor bring us 50 properties that he was self-managing.

For these elusive big fish, I'd drive out to the property and talk to whoever's managing it.

I got it under contract, she secured private funding and I managed the rehab.  

If you want true asset protection, hire a property manager and make sure your attorney reviews that contract and get proper insurance. 

With that level of capital you could acquire & manage the assets & tax issues without the restrictions of the REIT structure.