PLUS, good property management companies are great to build relationships with; they see and hear of off-market deals.

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).

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).

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

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

Personally I work with one contractor on all my projects and he goes with me on my first walk through.

@Caitlin Logue A smart person will learn from their mistakes, a wise person will learn from others mistakes.