I had an accidental chargeback that the tenant had reversed at Amex because his mother did not recognize the name of my LLC. 

I don't know of an institutional investor that will go 100%.

Talk to a local realtor to ask about after reno estimate on the place, but just because you put in $160K in renos, doesn't mean the place is worth an extra $160K.  

It's an awesome system and I'm impressed already.

On the one hand, the mentor courses / boot camps / common advice (including many here on BP) is to just set up an LLC but when I've discussed it with professionals, they argue against it.

The conventional mortgage lender sent an appraiser who realized that there is an issue.

Hey Guys I'm looking to connect with an experienced investor.

@Christopher Leet did you ever find an investment realtor in the Columbia area?

My goal is to purchase a small multi-family property with an FHA loan that I can self-manage while retaining my day job as a software engineer.I have been causally reading books, listening to podcasts, and self-educating on personal finance and different asset classes for the last 2 years before finally deciding on real estate; but I still feel like I do not know enough to go at it alone.

with an agent