I know you're operating with limited information here, but what do you guys think?

At my current status, I could only use stated income for acquision, and have limited means to cashout refi after improvement.

My investing is limited to part time as I still have to work an 8-5 jobs since the income from my rental properties is not enough to support my family and the debt against them at this time.  

However to afford limited liability protection and creation of a registered entity the Govt.

I will admit though that I am 6'2 and quite the big guy, as well as usually carry some kind of weapon (I never leave home without a pocket knife and carry an asp if I'm concerned). you should be fine as long as you limit their access to your house to the garage, vet them over the phone, and have another person with you at the time of transaction.

from there the sky is the limit.

This is mostly true with older buildings where typical operating expenses are higher than newer properties and by using a limited 25% deduction for operating expenses (75% method) you will often show better net rental calculations than if you used actual.

I don't want to limit myself by getting pre-approved at a bank in my area and not being able to use that pre-approval in another area, or vice versa.

There really are no limits to what Excel can do for you. 

I went through this dance with my cross-border accountant and he insisted that a flow-through limited partnership was the way to go so that is what I am currently using.