The retail business pays rent to the holding company, just like any other business ... and the money flows magically out of your left pocket and back into your right pocket :) Seriously, though, do run them as 2 separate and distinct businesses and do not allow one to subsidize the other.

Annelyse Finley  from my point of view someone who has been in the trenches for 40 plus years. you have two distinct things going on... one as J martin explained your going to use your Freddie fannie slots 4  or some times up to ten to buy rental homes with and a personal resi.these will need to be in your personal name and proper insurance with an umbrella usually suffice'sLLC for me is not about asset protection as much as it is about setting up partnerships and uneven distributions of profit or loss.. plus loss carry back if needed for us self employed folks.

If real estate management IS your business, make distinct (in distinct accounts that do not have joint bank statements) your "managing existing assets" money and your "acquiring additional assets" money. 

To pluck a number from air, I would guess 8-10% would be pretty commonHard money on the other hand, which I can side distinct from private money tends to be 8% at the low end to 15%.

I think this distinction is dubious at best and the sites using it are mostly using advice from one firm in NYC to operate in this manner from what I have seen.  

In my previous post I was trying to illustrate that some of the items in your initial list were not {closely} related and others were not merely arbitrary regulations or excises forced upon foreign investors, but exist for practical reason and are common business practices {not just in Canada}.Under the residential tenancy act in most provinces, there is a distinction between the "normal" termination of a tenancy at the end of term (Note that in some situations and jurisdictions, only the tenant is afforded the right to decided to terminate the tenancy) and termination with cause - which is commonly achieved through an eviction.The concept of "buying out" the tenant from their lease does occur, but it is a practice typically outside of the legislation (save for situations where the landlord  is entitled to exercise {early} termination - such as taking personal possession of a unit, carrying out significant renovations, or demolishing the property.   

@Graham Melvin, a property that you purchased with the intent to sell rather than to hold for productive use in business, trade, or for investment is considered inventory (note that intent is the key distinctive not time).  

Each state is a bit different, but the general distinction is that lending to individuals for a residence is pretty restrictive and lending to businesses is more flexible.  

I think the distinction is that a garage cannot be RENTED out to someone with a lease as it doesn't fit the legal requirements of livable space.

Actually, some of the strategies you list are logically grouped and distinct on BP (many people focus on one or the other), but in reality, you may blur them in your REI adventures.