If you're not meeting the 500 test, you will need to track the time of each person that performs work on the property. 

It’s a tax office, so I suspect they might be waiting to see how their business performs and the impact of technology before deciding.Thanks in advance for any advice or insights you can offer!

I think what you’re referring to is a checkbook IRA so you can bypass the custodian when performing transactions/investing and all assets/accounts will be held in the name of a special purpose LLC or Trust which is the instrument that gives you checkbook control.  

You will have to gather more accurate operating costs (vacancy loss, taxes, utilities, insurance, mgmt fees, maintenance, HOA) to best determine potential future performance.

Most are performing well and a couple of them are in the middle of dealing with evictions. 

Handle Legalities:Make sure you have all the permits required for the task you intend to perform.

Sometimes the market changes or can't absorb the rents that they want, so they issue concessions to make it appear as if it's performing as intended.

To achieve this, I’m planning to scale rapidly by performing a couple of syndications to acquire a larger portfolio.I currently have a portfolio of 17 properties, but to justify labor costs and create a sustainable structure, I need to expand quickly.

I think an equally probable scenario is that we'll convert it to a rental, and then look into a 1031 exchange if we think we can trade into a better-performing asset. 

Banks must approve a short sale for a short sale to take place, and banks hire appraisers and other real estate agents to perform broker price opinions (BPOs), or estimated values of the home.The goal would be to negotiate with the seller before the home becomes a short sale.