Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

April 15 approaching, who the Heck wants to start hiring lawyers.  

However, it is important to consult with a legal professional or tax advisor to ensure that this arrangement is feasible and complies with all applicable laws and regulations.

Recommendation would be to have a professional look over your situation. 

A 401K loan would probably be your best bet since any interest you pay on the loan usually goes back into your 401K account so it's essentially interest-free.If that's not an option here's an interesting article about different funding options using retirement accounts: https://www.moneycrashers.com/401k-ira-withdrawal-...I'm not a tax or accounting professional and you should probably talk to one to get the best mitigation of potential tax liabilities.

You'll have chances to put what you've learned into practice and work with other real estate professionals as your real estate career develops.

I'm curious what experiences people have had taking tax deductions as a non-professional REI.

Biggest thing I can recommend is hiring a legit management company that will take landlords who don’t own a lot of units seriously.

For insurance reasons, she can't hire employees (yet), so she runs it 100% by herself. 

You will need to hire a GC.