I'll definitely have to set up alerts.Lynn, I have spoken with the Property Appraiser's office and am all squared away as far as homestead exemption is concerned.

Once you are sure that you and your partner are in the real estate game for the long haul, then you may want to establish a business entity.As far as taxes are concerned, the partnership LLC and the S-corp LLC are both pass through entities and pass through entities tend to be tax neutral.  

My biggest concern for you is to make sure your property manager is licensed.

I'm starting to consider 2bd/1ba units for my next acquisition do to cost concerns.  

what aspects of short sales are you concerned about.

As you have found this is a non issue concerning price for OO.I've looked at investment properties of the same smaller portion being flat to the entire roof being flat.

I just don't see how $50/ft2 is possible, even given your large square footage.I would also be super concerned with partnering with someone that has never GC'd a complete project like this before.

I'm looking to soon buy my forever house with my fiance and I am concerned that I won't be able to afford my next rental after that.I cash flow (after mortgages) roughly $1,200 a month between the five units (we live in one) and our combined take home pay from our jobs each month is roughly $4,000.I would like to completely finance the next property but also not get a normal loan.

Do not be concerned that you are a NEWBIE.  

My biggest concern with this is is the higher interest rate you get, which I've seen can be around 5.2% instead of the 3.6% rate you can get with a conventional loan and 20% down.