thanks,Pat I'm a bit late to the party here so my apologies.Had a great call with @Drew Sygit about a similar topic.Wealth of knowledge from Drew and if you are still looking at starting a PM business, highly recommend you connect with him if he is available 😁100% agreed with @Nathan GesnerWe started PM in Toledo as a subsidiary to our turnkey outfit.Took us 5+ years to figure S#@% out lolSo definitely start "1 by 1" unit per se and grow organically.We are at a point just now where we are looking to scale via M&A.And that is only because I feel that we have reached our peak when it comes to generating organic leads.We get regular lead form opt ins and calls to our office.Literarily "monopolized" Google with SEO and our good reviews so there isn't much else to do IMO.Only issue I see is we aren't looking at expanding out of city and will stick with Toledo for now.Which will limit us in terms of expansion.Much success and all the bet with your business

SE Asia this time.

However, rental income is passive and not subject to SE tax, so that is just silly. 

There could be other issues as well, if I were you I would look for other ways to generate SE income, perhaps you could flip a property or two, etc.

Undoubtedly the wood is arriving from a super dry warehouse somewhere in SE Calgary, not exactly a climate controlled environment.

Even if qualifying as an RE pro, it's still passive income and thus not subject to SE taxes.You actively participate in a rental activity if you make management decisions.

Eventually I will identify a particular piece of property and spend the money on a more exhaustive feasibility study for that specific location, but I feel like I need to have done some research on the Tucson area or SE AZ as a whole in order to see what I'm up against.

We have an Ins Carrier that will put the tenant as insured but us as the 'mtg holder' per se so payouts go to us but NOT the claim.

In my agreements I have the right but not obligation to 7-8% of rents plus turn work, repairs, etc.It usually helps me to funnel some SE income thru.

Capital gains is not a form of income per se, but a simply defines how your portfolio income will be taxed; Portfolio income is not subject to self employment tax but may be subject to net investment income (NII) tax; It’s important to understand that the IRS views portfolio income as distinctly different from passive income, even though it is popularly considered to be “passive.”