He believes that area where he will be buying the new homes is going to appreciate and attract more MTRenters, but now, the big difference is that he would now have 3 properties that can go up (or potentially down) in value, go up (or down) in rent, and three times as many vacancies to fill.My back of the napkin assessment is that for only a drop in $200 a month in cash flow, he would control a lot more assets with growth potential and as rents rise over the coming years, the combined rents will increase to a total more than the single rent.HOWEVER.

@Ed Lopez what controls do you have over what they decide to do?

And given #3 above, it leaves about 20% of rent for all other expenses like property tax, insurance and other PM expenses like leasing fee, eviction fee and other minor expenses like for e.g landscaping, pest control etc.

Still, considering how difficult it is to find a good real estate focused accountant, limiting your search to local providers usually gives you too few options.Expand your search to include remote CPAs.

AI replies and posts are annoying but hard to maintain/control those.

Just like going to an auction where lots of people are bidding and there is a frenzied atmosphere... and you want to be a part of the action...you bid too, is not a good (controlled) way to spend your money.  

So, not really passive.Investing in rReal estate offers a lot more control than investing in stocks, but it also requires an investment of time to do well.

Despite the inability to claim depreciation or avoid certain taxes, many investors appreciate the control an SDIRA offers, allowing them to invest directly in real estate and other alternative assets they are passionate about.I do not recommend buying tax-efficient assets like RE in the already tax-efficient IRAs.

There are controllers on each end for 1-player or 2-player games, then a second set of controls on the side for head-to-head games like Street Fighter.We have a cheat-sheet with instructions under the glass, and we have a book with laminated pages that lists the instructions and the games.

You have more control of your time when working with sellers as opposed to buyers.