I'll never own real estate through a LLC again. I've spent about 15 years doing that, while simultaneously owning and renting out different kinds of real estate in a personal capacity. I have the following insights based on personal experience.
1) When obtaining financing, as a private owner of a 4-plex or less I qualify for a residential loan as opposed to a commercial loan. Through a LLC it's got to be a commercial loan at a substantially higher rate of interest. It's possible to get a duplex or 4-plex that's cash flow positive, IF you can get favorable loan terms. But that's next to impossible as a LLC.
2) A LLC limits the liability of the company to the assets of that company, but that's mostly on paper. You are fully liable, in a personal capacity, for any actual criminal conduct (including criminal negligence) that you engage in through the LLC. If someone sues you, they come after you in a personal capacity as well. If someone slips on the ice, or has an emergency hangnail on your property, they can and will sue you. It's not hard to find out who owns a LLC. If someone is serious about getting money out of your LLC, they can and will go after the owners. There are tort prosecutors who consider this normal behavior.
3) Many states don't allow single-owner LLC's. Do you really want a partner or two? If so, how will you handle the eventual misalignment of interests that naturally occur between two or more individuals over the course of a decade? (Think very carefully about this; it's like getting married but without the sex or the emotional attachment).
4) Depending on who you bank with, many lenders won't lend to an LLC, but will lend to the shareholders in a personal capacity. The corporate veil gets shredded.
5) A LLC is a pass-through with respect to taxes. You don't get any depreciation or other tax advantages not available to you in a personal capacity. But you generally have to wait for an accountant to draw up your K-1 at the end of the tax year. Many accountants are so freaking late that you have to file for an extension. If you're halfway responsible and owe Uncle Sam at the end of every year as all good Mustachians are supposed to, you have to file anyway and THEN file an amended return. It's a horrific pain in the ass. Don't sign yourself up for that unless you have a fetish for IRS paperwork.
6) If you are "not in the real estate business" and make most of your money elsewhere, you are exempt from some of the excessively Politically Correct laws that might otherwise cramp your style. For example, if you ever elect to also rent out a room in your home, it's far better in my opinion to use Schedule E instead of Schedule C.
7) There are no deductions available through a LLC that are not equally available through Schedule E. You can even have a 1031 exchange. However the LLC structure itself imposes some overhead especially at start-up.
8) Should you, as the LLC, divest yourself of a property using the quitclaim-and-refinance method to postpone the taxes due on recovered depreciation which would otherwise occur in the event of a sale, the person acquiring the property must "season" the property for six months to a year by having title to it INSTEAD of the LLC, while the LLC (and possibly you in a personal capacity) are still on the hook for the mortgage. Does that sound like fun to you: being jointly and severally liable for a mortgage, in a personal capacity, without also having title to the asset backing the mortgage? (Hint: No, it should not, unless you enjoy sticking your hand down a garbage disposal and turning it on).
So far as I can see, unless you've got a situation that absolutely requires a partnership, the up-sides to a LLC in no way outweigh the down sides in the specific area of investment real estate. I've been there and done that, and I'm NEVER doing it again. I, and I alone, will hold title to my properties in a personal capacity. For liability purposes, there's a product called umbrella insurance that is FAR cheaper than the expenses associated with LLC and partner related bullshit.