I want to leverage some of the equity (approximately $130K-$150K) I have built up in that property in order to purchase and grow my RE biz and portfolio.

Just from what I've gathered from your question here is my responseAnswer: you would need some money, but it doesn't have to be your money.Answer: it's different for each bank but I've read that mostly if you want to go through the bank you can up till you have about 4 mortgages than it seems to get tricky but there are still portfolio lenders and things like that.

The trick is to view it as a part but not the entirety of the portfolio.

Overall I'm a big believer that if you are trying to grow your portfolio via leverage sitting equity is making you 3-4% (Percent on a home loan) whereas if you find a great deal you could be making 10%+ on a rental or even more!

Portfolio loan or 203k loan?

What you want to ask when you call the bank is to speak with the commercial lending officer or anyone that deals with the banks portfolio loans.

I too worked for that company in Savannah for 21 years.I retired a while back and have added to my SFH rental portfolio to supplement retirement.I currently live in Charleston and have found it is a good investment market. 

I would like to build a rental portfolio in the Maryland area.

I'm forming an LLC with another partner and I know that a single person can have 4 to 5 properties under his name when going through a standard mortgage process that is reported to fannie mae and freddie mac (aside from portfolio loans).I was wondering, when we purchase a property under an LLC, do we have similar limitations for the #of properties to own, or is it different?

I am looking for recommendations for lenders that will do a cash out refi on a portfolio property.