One of the bigger expenses is going to be transportation as they need to truck each one individually.  

Elon Musk also made this comment, which is a fair indicator it will be at that location: "So we're here in Austin and our factory is like five minutes from the airport, 15 minutes from downtown.

If not, then that’s likely why they told you to use this strategy, because you’d have disregarded LLCs to protect you from liability, AND you’d file taxes only once on that parent entity and it would cover all the individual LLCs.

Would definitely prefer if the individual/company had experience with house hacking as well! 

I am doing my best to network in the area but find it hard to connect with individuals who are willing to sit down and take me serious.

You won't know what type of loans an individual property is a candidate for (depends on value and condition), but you'll find out the lay of the land and what kind of loan you can be approved for.And don't just go with the lender that your realtor recommends.

@Izaiah Barba -  I think every state is different and I think there's a difference in things sent manually (an individual click), vs a bulk e-mail blast.I've heard of people getting into some nasty lawsuits over this kind of stuff.  

What are my next steps to buy a portfolio as an individual W2 earner?  

John it's a complex question based on an individuals circumstances.First people need to separate ACTIVE yield versus PASSIVE yield when owning a property directly.

They have 9 duplexes on 3 individual land parcels.