Not Convinced RE Investing Is Worth It

[Chris Holmes]

New here, but have been reading the forums for several months as I consider real estate investing, but am having a hard time convincing my spouse the potential "hassle" of a poor tenant is worth the benefits.

Our situation includes both of us working full time w-2 jobs and our primary goal is to assist in reducing annual tax burdens. Primarily we are considering investing out of state and would ideally have a property manager. As a result, meeting the requirements to be considered a real estate professional may proved to be difficult. We were thinking of trying to own a STR property, but again given the difficulty in meeting requirements, it doesn't seem likely to be beneficial at all. That leaves me to think the primary option available would be to look at a LTR instead.

If still considered to be a passive activity, is there any tangible benefit to owning real estate aside from having a renter essentially build equity in a property for you?  Obviously this is a great benefit, but I can't see any other benefit from a tax perspective.  

What are some things I may be not considering?

Thanks!

[Jonathan Greene]

Whenever reducing tax is your primary motivation, real estate is not for you. If both of you are working full-time, you will not get REP status, and not in any way the way you have it planned. Nothing about being a landlord is passive at all. If you have management, you have to manage the manager. Look into syndications, but vet the operators first, that is passive income as an LP, not owning rental properties. Your wife is right.