I haven't used Investor Carrot personally and know many people are happy with it.

But painting the exterior of a house for $500 is very reasonable, at least around here for any person of reasonable skill to paint a house.  

Guiding, advising, meeting in person, hours on the phone, discounting on property price and services.Properties appraised for more than you paid, you sold for more than you paid.

Better pricing if they also insured your personal home.

But back to my first point, if you can use the "tax benefits" at all, if so how much, and how they effect taxes owed at the back end of the deal are all unique to each person's situation.As for refinances, some syndicators model refi's and other's don't.  

My personal approach to this, I don't seek for a positive cash flow if I have bare minimum equity in the property.

While I am fine renting while I search for the right investment, my dream would be to build (for my own personal home).

Regardless, I'm excited to learn and grow, both, my portfolio, and more importantly, personally.

This means that you will probably need to pay registration and filing fees in at least 2 states if you don’t buy CA property as a CA resident.Any lawsuits should be limited to the assets of the LLC and not your personal assets (assuming you run the LLC appropriately and the corporate veil is not pierced, some debate as to SMLLC).

HELOC's are used for personal expenses or home improvements.