Do I have to pay myself an hourly rate to be a RE Professional?

[Clint LeClair]

Hello Everyone! Like a good number of you fellow investors, my spouse has a W2 and I am building up our portfolio by BRRR'ing. Between finding the properties, buying, fixing up, and renting out- I'm sure I'm easily going to hit the 750 hour cutoff to be a pro according to the IRS. But here's where I need your advice: do I need to pay myself for those hours? That would add a level of complexity on top of filing for the LLC's that I wasn't anticipating (payroll tax, etc.)

So, do I need to pay myself?  Or can I just count the cashflow as income?

Thank You In Advance!

Clint LeClair