I've been lucky so far, and I bet there are holes in my contracts that I don't know about because they haven't been negatively tested yet.  

There are some holes in drywall.

Don't dig yourself into a hole right out of the gate as you may not ever recover.

@Dylan Badinghaus I'm one of those people who believe a correction is coming soon, so I think the thing to do is keep saving and being patient and wait for the correction to happen, when values are much better.That being said, if the cash is going to burn a hole in your pocket if you don't invest it, then here are some things to think about.First, how long is your holding period?  

You're essentially starting out your real estate investment in the hole. 

There is no monetary benefit toward paying yourself rent to an LLC that I can think of.

If one no is all it takes to derail your investing dreams, then this isn't the world for you (this comes out of a place of tough love, not a**holeness BTW).

It should be a bed/bath type, which typically has a pin hole on the outside through which a "key" for that type of door is something you should have in your landlord tool kit.

Adding in that I worked in a horrible environment with a bunch of a-holes as co-workers, and it made my decision easier, no doubt.

They will have not only a monetary default but not a material breach of the loan covenants to not transfer/sell/assign the property to someone else.