So while I am familiar with the general process for that, I am looking to learn more and get ideas about real estate investing, especially to help me with this first project I have in mind.  

I've heard about land trusts paired with LLCs, and was curious if someone could shine some light on the structuring, and formation process for this.      

Most people can agree it's a very slow process to build a portfolio, working to accumulate more units and reach financial freedom.

Some people say there's value self-managing in the beginning to get a feel for what is outsourced to a PM, too.A lot times, the people that do well with self-managing get good at systems and processes (or have lots of time and patience!)

This beginning learning process will be really crucial for you as you start to understand the basic principles of real estate investing and hone in on where you could have the greatest competitive advantage.

There are some missing pieces of data needed to make an in depth analysis from where we sit and give you more sound advice, however I own/manage property in Tampa which is a highly producing market and:- With $300k to play with you can acquire a $1M property or more which does provide the best cash flow- On a $1M acquisition and $200k (or less down possible) you can achieve 10-30% CoC returns, likely 15% inclusive of management is possible.- Do not forget about appreciation, which is where the real wealth comes from. 

Having both for us is a great benefit as the management team manages the assets and knows what they are doing, in the same token our finance team can run models and take historical data and use that data for some of our future projections.

The “coach” rarely gets involved in the process of teaching you personally.

I have talked with several clients who have had a similar thought process - in their mind almost a "block chain" for the real estate investment.Along with the SEC regulations regarding investment offerings, the IRS has neatly placed this "blockchain" type idea as being a tax partnership. 

So my question is - is there a way to offer an extra 20k outside of the normal escrow process?