You must work at least 750 hours per year in a qualified RE business.So most people who have high-earning W-2 jobs outside of real estate won't qualify.But the unique thing about RE pro status is that even if you don’t qualify but your spouse does, you can both file jointly and claim the losses from your RE investments to offset your other active income together.It's an incredibly powerful benefit if you do meet the criteria.

They really don't have the power or right to place any kind of lien on the property while they simply have it under contract and aren't doing any improvement to the property. 

Pays power but water /sewer are unpaid for 2 years & accruing in my name & they won’t shut off water to an “occupied” house.

It can be an extremely powerful tool to start to scale. 

Keep growing that Roth IRA, as the principals of compounding interest in the absence of taxation are powerful! 

Now dont get me wrong purchasing power is something else all together.

While no properties actually flooded, the entire area was a disaster - roads destroyed, rescues, loss of power, and loss of safe drinking water than lasted for two weeks.  

This means that theoretically, you could afford purchasing power of around $660,000 if you have $100,000 for the down payment.

My second slow season I decided not to rent it out because the propane bill to heat the home wasn’t worth the hassle, this last slow season was record snow and many homes lost power and heat for several days, it was categorized as a natural disaster.

I hear you, but the powers that be made a decision.