We have monthly in-person meetups in New Jersey for when you are in town.

Should I create an LLC at this point to protect my personal assets and tax planning?

If you do rent by the room watch out for local unrelated person ordinances.

However, when you rent out a portion of your home, you need to make sure you're properly dividing any expenses you pay to maintain the home between personal and rental uses.

Personally, I'd recommend multiple properties, but that all depends on your long term goals.

I came across Rent to Retirement through the BiggerPockets forum and podcasts and was encouraged by numerous positive reviews.

Hi Margarita-Great question.There are many mental blocks and friction points to buying your first property.First off, just buying property outside of a first or second home to use is not done by most people and buying your first home is a major purchase for most people.That means the people in our immediate sphere of influence are not thinking about buying investment property, they see it as risky and out of a sense of protecting you or themselves encourage you not to do it.I remember having the same mental blocks and fears you probably do thinking about buying your first property or first investment property.The most critical thing to overcoming these mental blocks is self education and surrounding yourself with the best team of people to help you.An investor friendly Realtor who can refer you to an investor friendly lender, title company or closing office, property inspector, property manager, and insurance agent.Real estate is relational and having the best team will keep you out of the weeds.To Your Success!

I personally have success in doing flips with my partner here in Ohio.

Hi Nathan - I’m a Realtor and I always encourage my buyers to get the extra coverage.  

You made the mistake of trying to treat her like a normal, honest person.