I traded up for a 7 unit apartment building.

Day traders are not exempt unless they elect mark-to-market (MTM) accounting, which eliminates wash sale tracking but taxes gains as ordinary income.To manage taxes, track trades closely, avoid overlapping purchases, or consider MTM election if trading actively.

Sure, they may be able to grow to a very moderate size,  add a few units, or trade up to a larger investment, but as for real scalability: NO.Why?  

If you're more of a 'personal referral' person than a 'do research online' person, and this is local to you in Manhattan, KS, hit up one or two of the trades people in the "little apple all stars" BNI group.

Quote from @Paul Gupta: Hi, in California, For jobs requiring a license, there was CSLB (contractor state licensing board) which would give either a General Contractor license, or specialty licenses by trade (~60 specialties such as concrete, welding tile, ) https://www.cslb.ca.gov/about_us/library/licensing_classific...My Q: does Maryland and DC area have similar requirements? 

LENDBASE has the following feesConventional:1% origination fee$500 doc fee (est)Title Work TBDAppraisal $2000-$3000Environmental $0-$2000 (depending on search) Which all seem pretty normal, but FIRST they require you pay them up front $4,000.00 to start brokering loans, it’s their "non-refundable engagement fee.”Has anyone ever heard of this ever?

when will you start to "profit"? 

This fundamental slow in housing starts has caused household formation to outpace new homes (single and multifamily) by 2.3 million between 2012-2022 (Source).

I’m new to the community and I’m planning to start a Section 8 rental property business.

You could start a PM company that handles subsidized housing program recipients primarily but I am not sure of the economics of that as it is not my specialty.