I picked up a 7 unit, all in 150k, with about 30k YES 30K net income on about 53k gross.

I would suggest for your first acquisition to "house hack" and buy a primary residence that you can get preferred financing on and also make some income on.

I figure it could be a good educational tool and potential for some additional income in the form of referrals, and my own purchase commissions. 

No income No doc . 

There's also a 3 bay garage for storage that could provide some extra income, it's very near to a lake.

Platforms like AirDNA and STRata.com provide data on rental income, occupancy rates, and competition in specific areas.

You don't have multiple income streams like you would with multi-family The key is having the right local teams in place.

Anyone can declare real estate losses against their active income if their income is under the AGI threshold but only someone whose PRIMARY profession is designated to be a real estate professional will be able to offset active income. 

3) since we will use a local property mgmt firm for marketing / bookings / rent collection, What business is the LLc in and what income and expenses do you report as those of the LLC (vs what do you maintain personally)?

Purchasing your primary with this money, unless it produces income, will likely cost more at the higher interest rates of today vs what you have as a rate on this property.