If you are new to the business and/or building up your credit and you have difficulty securing well priced financing, it's probably best to partner with someone who can help with the financing.

If Toledo was great we would have been doing business there the last 10 years, 

I have a business where I design products and have them mass produced in China.

I agree with @Ko Kashiwagi in the sense that you can transfer the deed to the LLC during the refi but it might be easier to go ahead and set it up at the beginning of the process.It really is up to you, as an LLC can provide personal liability protection, separating your personal assets from your business assets. 

He's been in the business for a long time, is an honest guy, and gave me a really fair price.

Not start operating the business.

How someone handles the "non-sexy" side of the business is telling of how they likely handle everything.  

Honesty is the best path in business and in life.

Growing your network and Agent business is definitely a contact sport.

I know the market is challenging, but there are opportunities that come up; and I'm curious how many are still in the business, or watching it?