We live in a heavily wooded city and this stuff is par for the course. 

I did have over 200 section 8 houses as I drank the cool aid way back when .. but geesh now we just stick to A class and live with the 4 to 6% returns and no drama and no destroyed houses.. its more than just the tenants its also the neighborhoods were crime is real etc..

There is no good investments, or bad investments.You as an investor need to decide what investing strategy works for you, define your criteria, understand if your criteria is possible in the market you are looking in, understand the risks/rewards of your critera, and then execute the purchase.While some agents are heavily knowledgeable about investments, most have zero clue.

After receiving all these valuable inputs from this post we are heavily considering finding a new PM (open to suggestions). 

However, landlords are investing heavily in upgrading office spaces to meet modern tenant demands, such as flexible work setups and health-conscious designs.

What are the best options to prevent from being heavily taxed from the W-2 job without the retirement contribution?

It's heavily dependent on what the tax code allows and who is interpreting the tax code.

That's mostly because I don't want to be too heavily concentrated in one area, but partially because it's been rough.

Business credit is largely irrelevant until you get into the true CRE and commercial lending space, and even then, the key principles are weighted heavily.

He goes to forums, meetings, markets to leads HEAVILY, studies like crazy, and more.