While a flip is more intense, owning a rental is NOT just sitting back and collecting money.  

They collect rent and you have to chase them for it, and I think they have a ring of deadbeat tenants that go from one house to the other, and pay a security deposit and nothing more

Deegan and @Arda Bircan There are technically 7 Tests for Material Participation (but 3 that are most common) -> the individual 500 hour mark, that the activity of the individual is substantially all, and that the individual participates more than 100 hours + no-one else spends more time than them.Litmus Test: Are your hours integral to the operationsThe hours that qualify must be substantially all hours and have a legitimate impact on the rental activities.Activities that generally count: showing the property for rent, taking tenant applications & screening tenants, preparing & negotiating leases, cleaning & preparing the units for rent, repairs, and improvements, managing the construction, purchasing supplies & materials, inspecting the property, responding to tenant complaints & inquiries, collecting & depositing rents, evicting tenants, writing & placing advertisements, and working on your websiteActivities that don't count: education & research, investor-type activities, and travel time..

You might find out you would collect more money with a PM than you do managing yourself.

Unit AppealAmenities and Upgrades: Although you have renovated the units, consider adding amenities like high-speed internet, in-unit laundry, or community spaces that can increase appeal.Feedback Collection: Gather feedback from current and past tenants about what they liked and disliked about living in your units.

Send them notice of balance due, file collections, and sue them in small claims court. 

If your state has a security deposit cap collecting the year up front is problematic. 

Link below.Per the forum post, you only have to pay interest if you collect a greater security deposit than one month’s rent, and then only on the balance that is greater.

IE post this.Brian B did a little research the property was lost to foreclosure with no bidders so there is no overage to collect those investors lost everything.. unless these sponsors are going to make them whole.. which I suppose could happen. not likely but it could 

so the way you do it is : buy/rehab primary-->rent it out -->collect lease -->HELOC it---->apply primary with showing the lease so DTI reduced-->continue or sell after 2 years , you can mix/match between the two, basically for every primary, your job is to make sure you have Dscr>1.0 and keep moving.