Can I qualify as real estate professional?

[Johnny Situ]

Hi BP folks,

I ran a real estate software company last year and probably spent more than 750 hours on building the software. The software allows real estate investors analyze rentals and flips etc, can I qualify as a real estate professional?

[Eamonn McElroy]

@Johnny Situ

If you have a full-time, non-equity W-2 job, you'd have to work over 4,000 hours a year to even start considering RE pro status.

While not impossible, it is highly improbable, as it translates to an average of 77 hours a week, every week of the year (Thanksgiving week, Christmas week, Forth of July week, you name it).