Yes, feels like a scam indeed.If I had to do it over again, I would have skipped the mold remediation part.

I was skipped up in school for math and science and could not use this site without support.  

No candy, crossed off all the return to sender letters(skip traced what I could), and expanded the number of owners I mailed to.

You can risk it and move forward without one, but understand if you are sued, the LLC will probably be ignored in court because you skipped it.

@Steve Vaughan nope STR income goes on a Schedule E and is treated just like LTR income as long as one does not provide substantial services during guest stays like a bed and breakfast or hotel would (meals, cleaning services, etc).

Figure out how get a reliable PM; if you can't do that then I'd skip OOS and bury your money in jars in the desert or something.

If you are only creating 1 LLC for the property itself that is owned by you, then you still would follow either option (1) or (2) for the Property LLC outline above and skip the Holdings Company, LLC approach. 

Never try to force a deal, you will skip the important details and end up with a loss in most cases.

Nicer motels with a free breakfast, pool, etc are $600/week. 

You can pull just an eviction report and skip credit, criminal, etc.