The seller would like:15K down he'll hold the rest for minimal payments at 4% and a balloon in 5 years or less.

If you're just starting out with minimal exposure to real estate, property management, and reading financials, going big will most likely set you up for a bad situation which you'll need to rely on someone else to help you solve.

I would suggest having only 2-3 properties in each LLC to minimize liability.

This will minimize the amount of loans you need.

Also you may want to consider investing in trust deeds - again, your IRA is a bank.Now, to minimize the custodian fees you may want to consider IRA owned LLC (also known as Checkbook IRA), this will give you checkbook control over your IRA.Another option would be truly self directed Solo 401k, here you act as a trustee of your own retirement plan, without the need for LLC and you don't need a custodian either.

The cashflow would be minimal for a buy and hold investor, especially depending on the HOA fees.

Rentals build wealth in the long term, require minimal effort once they acquired (though cetainly not zero effort) but don't spin off tons of cash on a daily basis.  

for me have done the best in terms of cash flow and fixing and flipping.   2 to 3 bedroom homes with minimal work.   

We are looking for a landscape designer who specializes in minimal water landscapes in the Boise, ID area. 

Also condos have very minimal repairs and maintenance (comparably my SFR rental is a MONEY PIT).