Sounds like you have a lawyer.

Great post Gulley and Agree 100% ... little to late for me become a Real Estate Lawyer or some other RE professional ..I will try to do my own education program an become a "Investor " who knows ,where to find and hire a great RE professional ..Mis 2 centavos !!

The farther from a standard way of doing things you get, the more likely lawyers and buyers will be confused and the more likely things will hit bumps in the road (paraphrasing one of Bill G's recent posts).

@Wayne Brooks   This is where the lawyers I introduced you to base their cases on.

The author of Land lording on auto pilot emphasizes the application form process heavily which is why I felt it necessary to ask this question now.I also took attended a meet up where a lawyer who specialized in landlord representation talked extensively about the fair housing act and how their reps sometimes posed as prospective tenants on sites like Craigslist to see if prospective California landlords were abiding by the law.  

To start with, I am not a lawyer, but I see absolutely no reason why you would need an S corp.  

Two words give me pause when considering making the jump to apartment buildings -- INTEREST RATES.As a real estate lawyer, I have seen several of my clients get very, very rich buying apartments.  

Also, by forming a LLC out of state, if I understand it correctly, they have to file suit in the state where the LLC is formed.I would give that book a read & talk with a good lawyer before going much farther on this.  

Listen to his podcasts. for contracts you need to hook up with an rei lawyer.

We are new to the REI world but my husband's brother owns a small rental property and has a team of brokers and a lawyer who he works with.