Until this point, I had nothing but great experiences with Norada's referrals in other markets, so I put my trust in them here as well.As a veteran, I saved the money for these investments during my time on active duty and while working as a contractor in Afghanistan and Iraq for over five years.

But wouldn't this be criminal not civil?

Either way, I'm excited to start my real estate journey and will try to stay active in this great community I've found here. 

If not, prepare to spend quite a bit furnishing it as in $20,000+ and probably way more3) Are you wanting to become more active in investing and hosting?

Sure, sorry I have not been active in these forums.

If the applicant comes from the pool of people that I or my tenants know, I use real estate as a way to give back as many of my tenants will not qualify credit wise or may even have a criminal background or would struggle for another reason if I were to just stick to the "background/credit check" criteria. 

I have already met with and spoken with a couple through my current work (both active and recently "retired") that didn't seem all that eager to get into the topic, or interested even offering advice beyond "I wouldn't recommend it."

Passive Activity Losses: Are there ways to offset my W-2 income with rental losses, or do I need to qualify as a real estate professional for that to work?

Then, actively track and adjust as need.

You need to know how many of those things/activities lead to a deal.