My co-owner lives full time in property B while I live full time in property A. My

In a dream world - the comprehensive solution does all this: *task management and sequencing where you can drop a property into a sequence ie day 1 call, day 2 mailer (have it automatically mail out something like a postcard) day 3 etc etc etc*project management outside of the outreach sequences for what's next in the process ie schedule inspection, send the contract, etc etc*ability to have multiple users drive around and if you see a property you can tag an address and add it into a marketing sequence, and also track the streets you've hit so you're not wasting time driving by the same houses more than once *dialer (ability to parallel dial numerous numbers simultaneously to make cold calling more efficient - Ive used tools like orum and kixie in other industries, and when you receive a pickup, the other calls are dropped) *skip tracing/data provider *website landing page for converting online visitors to leads*electronic signature/docusign*secondary branded landing site on different URL for blasts for deal disposition to your buyer listWhat am I missing? 

Am I just looking for best of both worlds here with being protected but also claiming my tax benefit?

Otherwise, I'm not really an investor, am I? 

Do you think my thought is rational or am I too pestimistic about housing market? 

Depends, what am I trying to achieve?  

Take the following with a grain of salt, as I am not a lawyer, nor am I in your area.

Where am I going with this?

It looks like you are in Buffalo, NY as am I.

So am I every shocked by reality disconnect, no, that's the new norm.