“Free Lunch” Aspect: Essentially, REPS does provide a “free lunch” in the sense that you can use real estate losses to offset active income now and still have future gains taxed at favorable passive rates.

Quote from @Joshua Michael Hauman: Hey BP Community,I've got a friend who is a veteran and asked for my help to get into investing and I'm more than happy to help him out however there a concern that came up.

Check out FilePlace, where user-created forms are available for free.

I don't' see a need for a property manager (I use rent redi)  because you have 4 renters under the same roof. 

There are tons of beginner friendly hard money investors on here that will lend to a first time flipper, although it may be a higher rate, their expertise will be invaluable. 

Work with an investor-friendly agent, explore up-and-coming neighborhoods, and consider value-add opportunities.

Even if your friend only paid $500k for his $1M house he’s selling you.

Clean, friendly, activity rich and lots of employment driving growth as far as I found. 

Glue-Down: Click-lock is DIY-friendly.$1.5-3 per sf.

When my friend started using them they were aggressively looking for rental portfolios in the market so he is sort of grandfathered in with them.Hope this helps with your decision.