I have a hard time imagining that I would not meet the qualification of "Material Participation in Real Estate" as a real estate professional, which would allow me to apply the bonus deprecation toward my earned income as a real estate professional.

Aware of any networking events/groups I should try to participate in?

I was told that offerings that we see on sites like fundrise may be inexperienced or not the best syndicators that may prey on inexperienced investors who don't have the ability to participate in syndications because of a lack of substantial capital and that capable syndication operators would not resort to posting on sites like that because they have a group of investors that trust them and they don't have to share a fee to the site.

I had NEVER participated in an auction and just submitted an offer $15k less than the original ask.

Ironically, before the last modifications of the forums were implemented, BP invited the main contributors to each forum to participate in a conference call with CEO Scott Trench to give feedback about the changes.

If I start running it as STR starting in June of this year, do I have sufficient time to meet material participation?

I met the Material Participation requirements that year, and took our taxes to our preparer with the expectation of a refund. 

Material Participation Activities:Property Maintenance: Engage in repairs or construction work on the property to maintain or enhance its condition.Contractor Management: Oversee the hiring and coordination of contractors or handymen for property-related tasks.Tenant Interaction: Communicate with tenants regarding lease agreements, inquiries, or property issues.Property Acquisition: Invest time in property search and evaluation processes, including visits to potential investment properties.Property Management Tasks: Perform activities typically handled by property management companies, such as rent collection or property inspections.Non-Qualifying Activities:Educational Pursuits: Time spent on real estate education or training programs does not count towards material participation.Investor Hours: Hours dedicated to investment analysis, financial planning, or portfolio management are not considered material participation.

My intention is to actively participate in this venture for the foreseeable future, committing to a timeline spanning the next 10 to 20 years.5.

Affiliate MarketingAn experienced consultant can help determine a budget, which type or types of marketing to spent it on, your target customer, how much time per day you spent on online marketing, and coordinate a website, blog, forum participation, paid advertising, generic advertising, and measure the success of each campaign.For those of us who started 15 years ago, and tried each new market type as it unfolded, we have a pretty good idea of where to spend our money and time.