I say this because my parents went the cheap route on their rent house and the roof practically is falling apart to this day. 

The whole problem with LLCs, rentals, and corporate veils is that the LLC rules are practically nonexistent, when that is the case, lawyers figure out what you can/can't do based on case law, but there isn't enough case law out there to let them know *exactly* when the "corporate veil" is compromised.

Best books or detailed article/videos to learn about this (preferably after Dodd Frank was put into practice)?

Older doctor practices tend to shun it because they do not want to deal with all the red tape.

In watching the foreclosure proceedings here (which are educational/entertaining/addicting) the biggest reason for a foreclosure getting kicked, and having to start over, is if they actually have a trial, and the "witness" for the plaintiff, which should be a rep of the servicer, doesn't have all the proper paper work, and more importantly can not speak to the "accuracy" of the payment history print out and explain their "industry standard business practices, controls and procedures".

Long-time lurker, first-time contributor here...I've been practicing law for the last nine years and recently decided to dive into real estate investing. 

The pitching of deals there I think is more for practice for the newer folks, I don't think theres many real buyers there.

Still legally defined as an SFR, but in a practical sense, my addition makes the property a triplex.

There is a spreadsheet somewhere on BP that you can use for each property, and it's a good exercise to just practice plugging in the numbers and learning what you need to know/ask.

It's going to take some practice but I know that once I break that barrier and get in there I can do this.