You mentioned W-2 income as part of a way to save on taxes. 

Gross rental income divided by 2 (50% op ex ratio) equals net operating income. 

@Christopher HeidrichRecommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

That's not worth 15% of the job.Another thing to consider is that some managers will charge low management fees and then add maintenance fees to bring in more income, while others charge high, all-inclusive management fees.

If you can’t do a 1031 to a non-income tax state, figure out a year when you will have lower income and tax rates ar as low as possible.

What's left after subtracting the expenses is your Net Income. 

@Brittney Yang first red flag is it doesn’t sound like he’s that interested in long term holds but the primary reason for partnership is expertise in renovation and secondary reason is balance sheet and income to help get financing.Regarding reason one, I would offer to compensate him for his time in assisting you and have a very clear scope of what that responsibility is.  

Quote from @David Cherkowsky: Quote from @Sasha Mohammed: Hi David,There are lenders that will allow you to purchase via a DSCR loan using STR income to qualify.

Also, focus on 2 years of job/income stability.Class D Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, all cashflow with little, maybe even negative, relative rent & value appreciationVacancy Est: 20%+ should be used to cover nonpayment, evictions & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores under 560 (almost 30% probability of default), little to no good tradelines, lots of collections & chargeoffs, recent evictions.

., overall portfolio stability or income growth).Be cautious when setting pay expectations.