It is possible for only one rental to be considered a trade or business (sometimes what is considered a trade or business is relevant for different reasons for tax purposes), but obviously the more rentals and more involved you are the better your position. 

As for using your own money I see frequently on bigger pockets videos they use OPM.

We have been doing our homework, educating ourselves by reading books and watching educational videos online about how to better structure a company/ies for real estate investing.

Prospective applicants can only gather so much from photographs and video.

Ask for VIDEO of the rehab work.

I recommend watching some youtube videos on it and taking an intro course on how it works.

Step 1— Read everything here that is relevant to your situation https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/property-managementStep 2 — List your property on Zillow, Apartments.com and Facebook Marketplace — that will give you exposure to 80%+ of the rental market Step 3 — Keep taking action on the scary things—they're not as scary as you thinkGood luck!

He had a great video explaining the system, but maybe you have to see the link in the ebook.

Yes for sure - I have an article and youtube video version breaking down the "buckets" of financing options for Multifamily depending on 2-4 Unit Bucket, 5-10 Unit Bucket and 11+ Units - all are very different - I don't think I can share links here but if you DM I can send you the linksI also published an article last year on "small multifamily dscr loans" which should also be helpful!

Success usually is a combination in varying amounts of hard work, good decisions, and a some luck.When arbitrage comes up on here, as it often does, I am usually "gloom and doom" playing devils advocate because the OP is usually on an emotional high from watching a YouTube video about making 6 figures overnight doing arbitrage.I started my business in 2016 with a high end arbitrage, then began acquiring my own, and lastly into management.