So, you could indeed be dealing with deed restrictions rather than zoning.But if you're not in Houston city limits, it would either be the city if you're in an incorporated area or the county if you're not that would control zoning.

As such, a corporation whose primary income is passive is in-eligable for the small business tax rate and will pay income tax at the highest corporate rate.Trusts are another beast altogether and while they have a useful place in wealth management and distribution to family, you are not going to need one starting out.What I would advise is that you create a bullet list of your near, mid and longer term business objectives and then sit down with an account who specializes in business and real estate to create a roadmap for your business growth .... this will identify whether it makes sense to incorporate at the outset and, if not, when it would be appropriate and how things should be handled in the interim to mitigate the taxable event at the time assets are rolled-over into a corporation.

As someone that’s worked in corporate america for too long, educated and successful, I’ve reached a point in my career where I can fully committed time and effort to becoming an REI.

Depending on the scale of your investments and future plans, it's worth doing a bit of research on the best state to incorporate in.

There is no timing to the income-expense cycle incorporated. 

It does require some time for classes and preparing for the exam in my already busy schedule (director in corporate America and father of 3 boys).  

But first and foremost I spent +23 years in corporate America in senior management roles providing logistics services to Fortune 500 companies globally.

I've seen many companies incorporate an LLC in Delaware and operate in California locally. 

Also many states allow an individual landlord to represent him or herself with out the use of hiring an attorney unless you are incorporated.

Telling a person that they should just utilize insurance instead of incorporating?