., as Luis said, short answer is yes.Each individual has up to 10 conventional loans they can take in their own name.When we got started, we made the mistake to take the first couple rental property loans in both my wife's and my name.

I always thought that was a mistake.

Also if you want to eliminate Cap/ex you may go into a $20/$30k house put $10/$20k in rehab and that takes out the Cap/ex.

For future deals, how would y'all recommend minimizing, or eliminating, that pesky 20% down payment and closing/realtor fees? 

Minimizing or eliminating those expenses will help to direct more funds to your investments.The order of magnitude is typically, but limited to, this list (sorted largest to smallest)Mortgage/rentMedical expensesFoodCar paymentCable/internetUtilities (electric, gas, water, sewer)Gas/Travel ExpensesEntertainmentSo, do your part to eliminate what you can when you can.

This eliminates the need to prove to the agent that you have private funding.

I subscribe to Ken McElroy’s advice (10,000 units) which is to start small and build from there so mistakes aren’t as magnified/costly.

In our experience, the #1 mistake landlords make when selecting a Property Management Company (PMC) is ASSUMING instead of CONFIRMING.

That being said, I think it is important to eliminate debt in the long term .

It's those maniacs that buy homes cash via quit claim deed off of craigslist that really get screwed.Make sure your property manager is a licensed real estate brokerage.Google Clayton Morris scam and/or Morris Invest scam for a cautionary tale of what not to do when buying turnkey real estateUnderstand you can not eliminate all risk, only mitigate it.