I am looking at a property that has a garden level/basement with ~7ft ceilings, normal height/size windows, and 2 separate ground level entrances/exits... it backs onto a hill and is roughly 80% above grade. 

When this happens the fancy/complicated entity structure is useless protection-wise.Lots of attorneys out there who will sell you a $10k+ entity structure that doesn't mesh with your operations as you scale your portfolio and team.

And extra credit cards could be hard to scale as you grow.

Typically what I advise clients is to self manage your first 2-10 units hire your management for 10-100 units and then have the management company scale with you when you get to 100-200 units.

Management company only really become useful when you reach economy of scale.

I think the easiest way to scale for you would be to start with a turnkey single-family or a light value-add BRRRR in a good market. 

They're all based on sliding scales. 

Always visit the collateral yourself.3. draws are done after you personally visit the property to confirm work has been done and if you dont know anything about construction bring someone who does.This is for mom and pop one of lenders this may not be possible for those doing lending at any scale..

So would I be shooting myself in the foot when trying to scale and deduct as much as possible at the same time? 

I’d love to hear what solutions you use at your scale!