Hours spent by any person with respect to the owner’s capacity as an investor, such as arranging financing, procuring property, reviewing financial statements or reports on operations, planning, managing, or constructing long-term capital improvements, and traveling to and from the real estate are not considered to be hours of service with respect to the enterprise.

It enabled us to leverage our situation and pay for schooling, which neither of us would have been able to do without this investment.

I’d like to know your thoughts/recommendations on the financial and tax aspects of this situation.Goal: Help my son, Steven, who's 23, purchase and move into my mother’s house (in East Windsor), which is currently owned by her estateConsiderations: Financial House being purchasedPurchase price is $170KThorough market analysis came in at $180KZillow estimate $233KChris / DorisIncome ~ $200KCredit Score – 820Liquid funds - $14,000Inheritance - ~$14,000 (available upon closing estate, probably a couple of months after sale)Additional funding could be procured if requiredPrimary residence valued at $400K with $250K mortgage StevenIncome - $0Credit Score – 755Liquid funds - $20,000Minimal prior incomes – summer workCurrently in Peru until March Steven's LLCBoth Steven and his cousin are ‘members’Newly formed farm$75,000 loan obtainedFirst payments due in 2019~$20,000 startup cost (bulk of equipment is available to him at no cost)Experienced, long-time farmer providing guidance Post-Sale Steven would live in house Two or three acres would be farmed After a year, the house would either be sold (if the farm didn’t work out), or purchased by Steven Desired Minimize mortgage / taxes for first year Minimize down payment, ideally less than $14K Avoid liability exposure on property if any farm workers sued Any suggestions or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.Thanks.Chris

This is from the Ohio Revised Code directly.Chapter 4735: REAL ESTATE BROKERS4735.01 Real estate broker definitions.As used in this chapter:(A) "Real estate broker" includes any person, partnership, association, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or corporation, foreign or domestic, who for another, whether pursuant to a power of attorney or otherwise, and who for a fee, commission, or other valuable consideration, or with the intention, or in the expectation, or upon the promise of receiving or collecting a fee, commission, or other valuable consideration does any of the following:(1) Sells, exchanges, purchases, rents, or leases, or negotiates the sale, exchange, purchase, rental, or leasing of any real estate;(2) Offers, attempts, or agrees to negotiate the sale, exchange, purchase, rental, or leasing of any real estate;(3) Lists, or offers, attempts, or agrees to list, or auctions, or offers, attempts, or agrees to auction, any real estate;(4) Buys or offers to buy, sells or offers to sell, or otherwise deals in options on real estate;(5) Operates, manages, or rents, or offers or attempts to operate, manage, or rent, other than as custodian, caretaker, or janitor, any building or portions of buildings to the public as tenants;(6) Advertises or holds self out as engaged in the business of selling, exchanging, purchasing, renting, or leasing real estate;(7) Directs or assists in the procuring of prospects or the negotiation of any transaction, other than mortgage financing, which does or is calculated to result in the sale, exchange, leasing, or renting of any real estate;(8) Is engaged in the business of charging an advance fee or contracting for collection of a fee in connection with any contract whereby the broker undertakes primarily to promote the sale, exchange, purchase, rental, or leasing of real estate through its listing in a publication issued primarily for such purpose, or for referral of information concerning such real estate to brokers, or both, except that this division does not apply to a publisher of listings or compilations of sales of real estate by their owners;(9) Collects rental information for purposes of referring prospective tenants to rental units or locations of such units and charges the prospective tenants a fee.As for "Subject To" if you'd like my take I linked to a thread below that I started on that cesspool of a business model. 

If a buyers agent is going to get paid from the listing agent, that fee goes to whoever the procuring cause of the sale is.

I’m a new investor and I have what’s called info overload and I kind of need a simplified approach to procuring a deal after I find it and the steps that I should go through can any one help me with this seriously.

I am in the Albany NY/Capital Region of New York.I am trying to find consistent ways to discover Rockstars for my core 4.I was interested in the ways that other people in the BiggerPockets Community find and procure top talent, particularly: 1) What methods do you use to find them?

When they came to my door uninvited begging and crying for me to have some compassion to let them stay for "just a week, cause I [tenant A], have family in TX, and we [tenant A and B] can move there and get out of CA."

That'll let you sidestep the "procuring cause" issues (where you might otherwise owe a Realtor a commission out of pocket), the broker wants you to be happy and will make it all right with the first Realtor internally.Big picture, you did the "throw a rock, use the first Realtor it hits" strategy. 

My goals are to make enough passive income that it enables me to quit my day job and pursue hobbies and things I enjoy more.Where I need help?