I'm looking to get away from my hometown in O'Fallon, IL, for a week or so and stay with a family that invests in real estate or owns a business and uses it as a business write-off and to be a sponge and learn some information from wiser individuals.

I'd rather not do two individual replacements with the timing working out perfectly. 

Find a bank that is savvy with self-employed individuals. 

Looking into it, I see most hard money lenders will only lend to LLC's or other corporations, and not to individuals.

They want it to be a "meaningful" amount to each individual.

I have worked with several individuals that try to broaden their net by selecting multiple markets.

For example, most 4-plexs for individually metered electricity and gas therefore the tenant pays for them, however the owner still covers water/sewer/trash which can be a couple hundred dollars per month depending on the area.

I am currently working towards buying ownership into an office building structured with an association of individual owners for the individual units.

However, I have heard a few times on the podcast and in books that banks prefer to loan to individuals rather than LLC's in the beginning because the LLC has not yet established cashflow.

@Andrew Semler Communication Skills (networking and negotiating), Math (underwriting deals), Critical thinking (for solving problems or "putting out fires"), mindset (for the inevitable ups and downs of real estate and entrepreneurship),  and economic competency/financial literacy (for understanding how the bigger picture concepts and current economic trends will impact your specific business).