My favorite areas are close to NC State University, Holly Springs, Knightdale, E Raleigh inside the beltline, parts of Durham, and Apex, but all for different reasons.  

I come from a professional commercial construction background with a Bachelors in Interior & Environmental Design and I currently work from home in E-Commerce/Marketing (hoping to blend all these backgrounds into a real estate investing :) I had a specific opportunity recently come up that I'm needing some advice on...

E-myth and Accounting books are next...Any advice or suggestions are appreciated.   

Assume that each printer is a unit of property under §1.263(a)-3(e).

@John Thedford  If I get a blast e mail in my state and public records indicate the person sending it does not own it and they are acting like brokers..

@Nick Mauldin : You simply ask for a T12 (YTD for 2017), Current rent roll, and a PNL for 2016 and 2015 (schedule E will suffice.)If this is a deal you sourced yourself by calling the primary, then they may be a little cagey about providing ALL of the above, but will often provide some of it.

They ultimately own the underlying property indirectly through the investment vehicleA, B, C, D, E form Partnership ABCDE.

If that is the case, creating a company to have the rental properties under the company will have the same effect - your loss from the rental properties will be reported on K-1 (instead of Schedule E), which will be subject to same limitations. 

There are lots of quantitative metrics ("mainstream" as you say) to observe here (P/E for the S&P - see chart below, margin levels, ratio of total market cap to GDP, etc), & anyone with access to google can see the same numbers.

Thanks for the response as well Paul, my concerns are not necessarily around depreciation (I’m pretty sure that buildings are depreciated over 27.5 years opposed to 20 years) or other deductions that are typical to long term rentals but rather tax guidance that dictates what is a schedule E rental portfolio vs. a schedule C business similar to hotels.