The smarter, steadier choice is really before the investment and defining intentions and current situation. 

Out of sight out of mind.If these were items you wanted to pass the cost down to the tenants--light bulbs, air filters, water filters, batteries etc. those should be defined in the lease agreement.

I agree with the notion that one needs to define his or her goal with regard to real estate and making a living of real estate alone would require lots of it, but cash flow for the long run is almost inevitable.

Enough” - “Your success as an investor will be determined by how you respond to punctuated moments of terror, not the years spend on cruise control”The Noticer: - “One way to define wisdom, is the ability to see into the future the consequences of your choices in the present.

Jump off the cliff or Analysis Paralysis- define failure.

It's possible the engineer is agreeing to take on the ENTIRE development process and manage the entire development of the project but that would need to be clearly defined in the roles and responsibilities of the development partnership. 

Many investors choose a profit-sharing model for true equity partners, often splitting profits 50/50 or based on the level of their contribution to the deal, but ensure everything is clearly defined in writing to avoid misunderstanding/miscommunication. 

Specifically for taxes, its pretty straight forward with Baselane because you can tag all of your transactions with the pre defined categories for a Schedule E (the tax form you submit for rental property).

Nowadays there are a lot more strategies available to a lot more people, and that has changed the avatars of who is investing in real estate.Not every investor is defining "success" in the same way.

Enter the STR:Short term rentals are defined by the IRS as properties with an average stay is less than 7 days.