Yet somehow I did not have the lady taking the packages on camera (maybe she did not and it was weird set of circumstances with packages delivered to the wrong address).   

I hope your middle finger behaved as you left the building for the very last time ;-)On a serious note, with the experience you gained on your journey, can you tell us your Top 3 do's and don't as one tries to accumulate RE.  

@Natalie CaoWelcome to the community and be ready for a huge amount of information at your finger tips.

A couple of days ago, both my realtor and I called her number to follow up and the lady says the number does not belong to my tenant i.e. she's a diff person.

Any of the above kills the STR loophole under this "substantially all work" option for material participation.Is there a way to qualify if all my outside help was a cleaning lady for 2 hours?

I had a few properties when a lady that owned a cleaning company I had contracted with previously approached me about combining forces on a property management company.

Across ten doors I've had three turnovers in five years and one of the ladies that moved out (she wanted a larger house) still calls me occasionally to see if I have something available again. 

It seems like there should be a dividing line somewhere to make it easy, but also maybe not because both of these ladies seem to have pretty solid claims although I would think the last one has a better shot.From a legal POV (although this is not legal advice although I am an attorney), without a will the estate gets probated along blood lines.

Crossing my fingers!

Fingers crossed.