In upstate south carolina once a "deal" hits the mls, there are so many offers on the property that it creates a bidding war above list price.   

If the area you are in allows 8 dwellings per acre and your area is already at 8, the city will not allow you to split that property, creating 9 units per acre.

So if you take that same property and are able to increase NOI (by lowering Operating Expenses or increasing rents) by $50,000, you have created $625,000 in value!

Considering the fact that you have laborers assists the fact that you can save on self-employment taxes.Please be wary that creating an S-corp has initial set up fees and fees associated with its upkeep(annual SOS fees + annual tax returns).

I am out of state, and my local area (in Boston) creates a much larger barrier to entry, so I have been researching areas of the country that might enable me to start to build my portfolio sooner. 

It has a pretty unique rail and sliding table system.

They have unique materials and prices are competitive. 

I think the easiest order to do this, is to create LLC, get loan in your name, quick claim dead the property to your LLC right after closing.

Where you're currently standing then create several plans of action with the positives and negatives of each.

Who created the contract?