Most great brokers that will provide top level leadership and a stream of business wont take on part time agents.

It's also illegal to sell goods below cost in an attempt to create a monopoly (drive the competition out of business and then raise prices to high levels).

My Midwest, engineers brain can’t handle that level of leverage.

I live in Bay Area and there is no market for rentals here at least on my level.

They have legislation preventing using multi-family properties as short-term vacation rentals and they have other regulations about parking, noise levels, etc.

I have the ability to apply for the same level Line of credit on my business but am going to do that yet. 

There are significant tax differences between the taxation of a pass-through entity and a C-Corp/S-Corp.Accountants would need all the detail(nature of business activities, goals, exit opportunities, income levels, expected income levels, etc) before they can make a well informed decision on your entity structure.Working as an independent contractor does have it's downsides of which you are paid the full-lump sum for your work.

The desire is to repair this unit to a higher level and desirability than the neighbors so that I can select the highest quality longer-term tenant.

This is simply my high-level opinion as someone that works in the multifamily mortgage banking/lending space that does a lot of business with the GSEs and large National Banks in North Carolina.

I don't disagree with your wife about clunker cars but you don't need the latest greatest either.