I stumbled upon the BP youtube videos which led me to the site.

I would locate interested sellers who have >40% equity in their SFH and do not have a contract with a RE professional to sell their house.

I believe it to be a good investment, but wanted to know what the professionals thought of it.

By day I work in commercial real estate lending in NYC, and I'm also a professional engineer, so I'm happy to help the community in anyway I can. 

I had the rental professional sprayed before move in. 

Best advice is to visit the property, and make sure you get your professionals in there so that you can make a risk based "informed"  decision. 

I've not yet done the math to determine which strategy would save me more money, but the big cons of this areNo primary residence, therefore slightly higher interest rates, 20 - 25% down (but depending on the market, this may very well be equivalent to 3.5 - 5% down in LA).Depends on the quality of tenant screening, but it's probably safer to assume that they won't take as great care of the property as I would.Probably need a property manager, professional or tenant.Either strategy seems to net me the same cost around $1,500 monthly, but I'm biased towards Los Angeles as I can rent to friends which solves a lot of the tenant/landlord issues.I'm not looking for anyone to give me all the answers but would appreciate any insight, food for thought, and constructive criticism. 

So, taking out money out of LLC has nothing to do with reporting the profit you made on the deal.this might be little confusing so it is best to talk to a qualified professional. 

If your loans are with a small, local bank I'd suggest talking directly to them.I think an LLC or DBA makes sense from a professional point of view.

You must install it or have it professionally installed.