@Jonathan Patterson depending on your family dynamics some strategies may be better than others.

Those areas could be boring to live though, depending on your taste.  

Depends on how LLC was setup, but that should work.

Depends on what type of property you are looking at. 

For example, can you get a better deal depending if the property was a short sale?

Depending on building and zoning it could be a tiny house .  

I have found a huge difference in the way I am treating as an investor depending on the bank that I use.  

Whether you want to flip or buy and hold really depends on your goals as an investor. 

In order to get the cooperation from the owner you will very likely be asked to make an offer-do so subject to financials and inspection you can always adjust the numbers depending on what you discover.

Choosing which custodian to go with all depends on your needs.