If done properly you will stand out in two ways 1) you will be a person of integrity and your word is very valuable in real estate investing 2) you will benefit from the law of reciprocity which means those you benefit will owe you. 

I want to play this game for the long-term and not looking for short-term returns.My portfolio should benefit from appreciation, depreciation, tax-free cashing-out, leverage using low interest rates (from #1), cashflow to cover the expenses.Syndicate & CF seem to be ruled out since I can't control the asset, cannot leverage it when I want to and there's no collateral on my investment.What is a good way to start?

Ask if they get any kind of benefit for referring a particular person.

Over the long duration that you are invested though, you will reap the long term benefits of being in the market, as historically it gains about 10% per year.

I like the tax benefits of it (expense deductions, depreciation, 1031 exchanges). 

Although Austin is developing farther out so fortunately could really benefit in the long-term.For those of you whose first property was a single-family househack, what would you do differently or what would you pay more attention to if you could do it again? 

That being said, a few things to consider are the benefits of cash flow vs appreciation. 

I'm new to real-estate investing and I'm trying to understand the difference between the different forms of investingI want to play this RE game for the long-term and have the portfolio benefit from appreciation, depreciation, tax-free cashing-out, leverage using low interest rates, cashflow to cover the expenses.Here's my understanding of eachDirect RE- Full ownership / control of when to sell- Can leverage & deleverage as you want- Work involved to maintain property; But can hire a property manager to assist- Can provide cashflow to cover expenses + CoC return- Provides hard collateral / security for the money you put in- Tax benefits - depreciation, phantom appreciation, interest deduction Majority Partnership- Form partnership where you are majority owner with 2+ other people (with more capital input) - Can provide benefits of direct RE on controlSyndication- Passive investor / accredited - Less work- Access to commercial RE which you can't get otherwise- No security / collateral for your stake; Can loose everything- No different from investing in a business- Already leveraged returns; You don't control how asset is structured- Depreciation benefit passed through K1; But no benefit of 1031Crowdfunding- Low minimums- Already leveraged returns- Can be equity or debt based; Equity stake has some tax benefits through K1- No security / collateral and everything can disappear without recourseIs this correct? 

There are grey areas here however, be aware of this item.With the recent no limit changes added to the VA loan for 2020, see again benefits.va.gov page for Loan Limits, it's a huge benefit to be using this program, especially to jump in to multifamily.

Ive learned that making relationships with others that have similar goals, will inevitably, benefit myself and those you construct business with.