I think the first question to ask yourself is do you want to be active or passive. 

Real estate is more passive while business is often active income until you get people in place.

Many people believe investing in real estate is a passive activity, but that's rarely the case.

It was my father's investment it actually at one point had been our primary residence he was just putting it on the market because he didn't want to deal with the stress of renters or have to worry about carrying costs.

Be patient and last tip is to keep your active income as long as you can and try to continue to increase that active income every year as that will help you grow your rental portfolio much faster and live below your means. 

Positive Note - All but one have Active LLC's. 

We are over 20 experienced CPAs active in these forums, many of whom specialize in assisting real estate investors like yourself.

I'm not looking to scale tremendously, just looking to have enough passive income once the rental properties are paid off that my fiance and I can leave our jobs in the automotive business and find something less stressful and more fulfilling, live a little slower, and travel more.

It cost $25 to go from inactive to active status once you have an employing brokerage and upload your E&O insurance.

But, It isn't normal.I check in on the 5 - 20 wholesale gurus (there are 7 in the Phoenixmarket) that have active youtube channels.