However, if you put it as a primary residence house, the only liability you will be counted towards is the monthly mortgage payment of the house and removing your rent expenses (since you moved out).

In the buy and hold situation, depending on what you buy it for, the expenses of owning/taking care of it, and how much you can rent it for, you could have some cash flow each month and have a second property that appreciates each year. 

To generate passive income from rental properties, investors should aim to purchase properties with positive cash flow, meaning the rent income exceeds the expenses associated with the property.

The last method seems to be the most practical for me if I can just get the right deal and makes the most financial sense to reduce my overall expenses in the long-term.

Hey Dylan, totally can relate with you being from an expensive real estate market - I moved to Columbus a few years ago (from Portland, Oregon which was super expensive) to become a full time real estate investor, and ever since, I've completed quite a lot of BRRRRs, flips, and own a successful rental portfolio here in Columbus Ohio.

Also, do you charge a service fee on top to offset that software/back-end expenses/fees?

.), security cameras, track remote employees (they will steal the cash), cost to install pumps, license fees, hard equipment needed- registers, apps to run the register information, accounting, legal, cases for merchandise, shelves, door hardware, heater or HVAC depending on location...This is a tiny community there won't be a local plumber and electrician... add some cost for time to contact your team and travel will make any repairs more expensive.

However, this often involves more complexity and expense.

They're not only expensive, but almost impossible to reach  - a function of supply and demand, but also told there's partiality to locals and we're not.So is there such a thing as traveling contractors, and if so, where can they be found? 

One way or another, however, the investors must work to pay down loans, increase rents and decrease expenses wherever possible.