I have just had my architect develop a site plan and "as is" layout, as well as "new" drawings and need to get my electrical and engineering and mechanical estimates, but I figure the rehab could be anywhere from $140,000 to $180,000.

I asked the SFR guy to do a mechanical/structure only inspection with no report and bill me hourly and I met him for the last 30 minutes to go over findings.  

Liens can range from IRS liens, to mechanics liens, judgements, etc.  

The LLC operating agreement is the starting point for the mechanics of the “how” and “if” questions.

Mortgage lenders don't really hurt your credit score when they run it, unlike credit cards and auto loans and everything else (because mortgages are considered good debt vs bad debt for everything else). 

I haven't tried smaller banks, I have an auto loan trough a credit union which is almost paid off and I've always been in good terms with them over 5 years, I will talk to them to see if I have options.

If you dont want to pay $400 per property, At the minimun, have your PM hire someone for a day, to walk through the propertues and note condition of the various systems, roofs, mechanicals, peeling paint, driveways, etc... if your pm was recommended by the seller, hire someone else for the walk through.

My only concern about SW Ontario (and one of the reasons we moved 'out west' is that the auto industry seems to be on a slow one-way trip south.

A lot will depend on mechanical systems.  

I have a full time job as an Mechanical Engineer but wanted to look into real estate investing  and learn more about it.