@Jason BocekIf you plan to file your own return - You should look into reading the following form instructionsSchedule E - supplemental income and lossesForm 4562 - Depreciation & AmortizationForm 8582 - Passive Activity Loss LimitationsHowever, you may be better off find a professional who can prepare your returns correctly and provide you tax advice.Your rehab expenses may need to be capitalized if it was paid before the property was livable.You should be entitled to other expenses outside of interest, taxes, insurance(remember paying down loan balance is not a deduction).You should interview a couple accountants here on BP.

To add more context, let say you're a hustler and within the first year completed 2 flips, gaining $40k profit each, and purchased 3 rental properties netting you $3000 a month in total.

If you want to gain top of mind awareness in an area quickly, an adwerx campaign would be a big bang for the buck.Be a FSBOs best friend. 

Outside of meeting with an "investor friendly" agent while in each city, what other in-person tasks should I try to accomplish to gain a better understanding of the potential upside to the rental markets.I have renovated and rented a multifamily property before so I'm not completely new to the game, but analyzing out of state farm areas is a relatively new path that I have yet to explore. 

Is this accurate and is there a way to re-gain this interest deduction?

I'm really sure I did everything wrong, I was not knowledgeable nor was I thinking about it as a business, but somehow I enjoyed myself so much I'm now considering getting into real estate investing.My goal is to have passive income (I work freelance so I will eventually need it), as well as income for retirement.

I am trying to gain some experience and build credibility with smaller multifamily so I can graduate to larger properties.

@Carlos Casanueva- like @Andrew Johnson said, it basically comes down to if you want an active or passive role and fyi... you can go much bigger than 40-50 units my friend. 

Income property investing is never passive.

If this will take you 6 months to get done then what have you really gained.