I suggest that you are not a ready to purchase until you have seen enough properties and what they have sold for that you can tell a property that will have offer accepted the first week of hitting the market.  

Just had my offer accepted on my first storage unit. 

Put in any offer, even if you know it won't be accepted, it will get you used to your systems, and learn negotiating skills for the real deal!  

I'm waiting to see if Wells Fargo accepts it.

Who knows if it will be accepted, but just going through the process has been incredibly educational.

Converting passive income/losses to non-passive without an arms' length transaction in between would not be acceptable to the IRS.  

I would like the collective input and wisdom of you, forum members, to test and prompt my further planning and pre-empting as I plan to write the contracts and do the transaction.

Real estate investing is good but remember if it can go wrong it will at some point and the quicker you accept and prepare for that, the better you'll be.

Research the area and know what is acceptable and what is not.

Maybe another realtor can pipe in on your above scenario.2) You never know what a bank will accept.