Thanks, Thomas, didn't think of that aspect.

They offer free consulting sessions on all aspects of starting a business and can steer you in the right direction re: grants.

You have to define ( going out of business).Is it they are losing money and will shut down soon or it makes great money and the current owners are just wanting to retire and cannot find anyone to take it over?

Case law however, not the written statute, has more clearly defined "work".I'm also confused how they could claim "providing materials" 2 months after "they were fired"....can you document the firing as real and enforcable? 

It depends on whether the House or Senate win out on certain aspects, but it could be good for investors.The House bill taxes all passive investments at 25% (rentals are considered passive, unless you are a real estate professional as defined by the IRC).The Senate bill gives a 23% deduction on the flow through income of sole proprietorships, LLCs, and S-corporations.There is a lot more to all of this, but those seem to be pretty good changes for investors.

  $1000 for an LLC operating agreement and corresponding legal work is about the going rate in MA, and they help you ask all the "what if" questions that you haven't even thought of, and help you define what will happen if something happens.  

You need to clearly define your short and long term goals, before assessing if it makes sense to place your money into it.

Make sure your insurance will cover you in this aspect, some carriers do not (they'll cover everything else, just not the pool).

Based on the contexts in which I see the term cashflow being used, I define it as what's left over after all your bills and after your no-BS reserves (e.g. repairs & capex which I don't see how anyone can put less than 200/month towards, prop management, vacancy).I'd consider anything before accounting for these to be revenue, not income.

The company I am going through for the General Inspection will not provide that aspect, and I know that there is an issue.