The 50% rule is just a rule of thumb that states about half of your rental collections will be consumed by expenses.

So my initial goals are very modest--I would just like to generate an income of $1500 to $2000 a month.So what do you suggest?

.* Another thought is that if rents rise over time (hopefully true) then the passive losses would be consumed partially that way also (ideal case).* I think a 1031 exchange causes the "suspended passive losses" to roll forward into the new property, so the depreciation recapture does not occur, but am not certain.In the end we personally still ended up wanting to mortgage our new purchases, under the idea that we could obtain several properties with the same amount of cash, and would have capital gains on several properties as well.

Then if the 2nd deal is a different type and needed to be held in a different company - then set up your 2nd company.You can set up the companies yourself at the local consumer affairs office or you can pay a paralegal to set them up with all of the proper binders that you will need in the future.  

Steven Hamilton II I think either trust or Flips are not appropriate given the modest size of capital - ~$25k or so.

If I find a buyer for these investor's properties and charge a modest fee (thinking $1000 a pop), could I get into trouble by not having a RE license?

All the above will be a real PITA and time consuming.

This one has the long odds, but any possible payout seems modest.

Never really sold internationally, I can see all kinds of time consuming issues, hope they speak english too.

RESPA is a federal law that helps protect consumers from unfair practices by settlement service providers during the home-buying and loan process."