Found out later that this was this GC's MO to undercut everyone's bid, then make back the money and then some with change orders after the project had started. 

Treasury bills are paying 5% and if you stagger their maturity you could have the money ready to go if you find a better opportunity.

Let’s also look at income, not just total wealth, since many folks, especially hourly workers, in the bottom 50 unfortunately, really can’t/don’t save much money or own income producing assets.

The Lead investor is the one finding the property, setting up management, raising money, managing repairs and upgrades, dealing with insurance, making distributions to investors and completing all the tax documents for the investors. 

The other benefits, or lack of, have been covered by the previous posters.In all seriousness, I would not waste your time, money, and effort on an LLC just yet.

Aloha Julian, Just to add onto what everyone has said, 1-4 unit deals (residential) are typically underwritten differently from 5+ unit deals (commercial). 1-4 units are easier to close and you get more money for them because of how DSCR is calculated:- Residential (1-4 units) DSCR = Gross Rents/Mortgage Payment- Commercial (5+ units) DSCR = Net Operating Income/Mortgage PaymentIt's important to note that in both cases above, there are exceptions.

I'm looking at putting money into it and recommending friends to put money into it so any advice is appreciated.

To the hard/private money lenders out there.

When we loan money, we are betting on the person we gave the money to.

I deposit my paychecks there and for all the time the money would usually sit idle until the bills are paid, the heloc interest calculates daily, so it would be lowered by my deposited income.