Can you afford to pay someone $40k per year to manage part of the business?

If you think things are busy now, wait until you get stuck with a problematic tenant!

However, if you're a W2 high income earner or business owner, I can't imagine it makes any sense to flip houses, mail mass post cards, wholesale, or build lead gen websites with the value of your time being better spent other places (such as learning about real estate and increasing your income through proven means), such as at your 9-5pm or growing your business, and your real estate is a long term process and you don't need "home run" deals to qualify or make it work.

They stated it was none of our business. 

One thing in real estate and probably most other businesses is that most people including me don't know how to measure and evaluate risks.  

I know some municipalities allow the property owner to obtain permits but  that in itself is a huge issue in many areas and secondarily insurance is critical in this business.

You have to take your pick between charity and business.

In my experience, the good ones are expensive, typically require a subscription, and sometimes they even do a physical inspection of your premises to verify it is a legitimate person / business in US.

I bought a business where the prior owner had it in an S-Corp, the S-Corp and he was sued personally for three million.

You can't use a PO Box for a business entity.