The activities of wife with respect to the rental properties included, among other things, cleaning common areas, collecting coins from washing machines, performing repairs at the properties, communicating with tenants, collecting and depositing rent, maintaining insurance policies, purchasing materials for the properties, as needed, paying bills and keeping books and records for tax accounting purposes.

In speaking with my banker and CPA, it confirms what everyone is saying.....No one will want to use my "stake" in the property as collateral, because of its illiquidity etc....I know that the CoC returns annually of a syndication deal aren't as good as one COULD get actively trading the markets.But the IRR can be closer to 16-18% when factoring in the refinancing and selling chunks of return.And this being completely PASSIVE really appeals to me.I am working on the markets etc.....my game plan is basically work the markets/crypto world and as I get gains, take 1/3 to pay off my business/building debts, 1/3 to build into these syndication deals, and 1/3 to keep rolling the active investing snowball.Wish there was a way to leverage....so sad.Thanks all!

That being said we do have a lot of customers that need it and it is a huge convenience for their type of investing.4) If you are planning on investing in crypto, make sure the bank is cool with it. 

My initial gut feeling says self manage as a way to get hands on experience, but I will still have a full time job until I can expand my RE portfolio further.Looking for any advice, lessons learned, and opinions on the topic from people on both sides of the coin.  

Is offering laundry in each unit a benefit or would one coin-operated unit in a common area work? 

To find out what the rents are and how many available simply look at the classified for rentals, OR call a realtor or PM co in the area, see simple :) Your other questions are 100% irrelevant, (STOP READING BOOKS I suspect this is what they are telling you to learn) you are not going to learn about the area sitting on your computer.

I used one in Denver, CO. in 2002 and they helped me wholesale 3 deals and complete my first fix/flip.  

Doug, you took the words right out of my mouth, and I like it that you nailed both sides of the coin, finishing with a truth that is important: "it's not necessarily a waste of time, just not the best use of your time."

You'll want all the information about the income and expenses of the property itself, as well as the information about any financing you're using, so you can determine your projected returns.Income is just rent and, if it exists, other income from coin laundry, garage rental, etc.

For example charging a utility fee for the water or providing coin operated laundry.6.