The key is that it is actual real estate and the definition is roughly - real estate you have the primary intent of holding for productive use in business trade or for investment. 

Hey David, here in NJ contractors are all charging $5000 small shower caulking, $10,000 small shower tiling, $20,000 small deck....this is unfair trade practices.

With $1,000, I can invest in REIT stocks, mutual funds, or exchange-traded funds. 

There are different schools of thought on investing and risk versus return is the general trade off.

If you don't want to pay anything anymore, you probably at that time want to lower the death benefit so your cost will be approximately 0.25% a year (much less than a lot of mutual fund and financial advisor fee).Yes you can borrow on margin on a brokerage account, however you can not borrow up to 90% of it, and you can get a margin call with catastrophic consequences.

They also want everyone who comes into the company to earn ownership through stock, as they’re publicly traded.

Plus, I'd be managing the property and they'd be pretty much a silent partner, so there would be an imbalance in the amount of work there.What attracts me to the idea of a JV is that it's a way for me to basically trade my expertise and my work for equity.

Wanting to grow in scale - and I saw the opportunity to trade a hot asset - residential mf - for an under appreciated one - commercial mf - How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

I do most of the work myself - not only to save money but to just get on with it; trades in our market are booked out 8 weeks or longer and they may not show up after you've waited for them - if a better paying gig surfaces in the interium. 

When you send a renewal, include a deadline and a consequence for failing to meet that deadline.