Whether that matters to you or not is another issue.An S Corp is designed to minimize SE taxes based on "reasonable compensation", which will vary for each and every taxpayer. 

And for context, I'm in Virginia.I ended up just going without a lease, which probably isn't a good idea in theory - but the guy has been a close friend since grade school so I figured minimal risk.People kept telling me to find a lodger agreement, but I couldn't find a good template.

I did a few thousand of them for my clients. end of the day though its a max leverage minimal return game.. which if your up for that that's fine.. just make sure you have adequate reserves..

Finally, the investment cost for me on this deal is negligible, so the risk is minimal.

You can remotely manage with minimal time and your phone.

Find a great deal with minimal to no rehab needed and see how it goes. 

I don't know anything about the income tax regime in Canada, but in the US (I'm also far from a tax expert in the US), if you finance 70-80% of a purchase price, there is generally very minimal if any income tax, after operating expenses, interest expense, and depreciation.For example, if you buy a property for $1m with $250k down and earn a 10% CoC return, your income, before depreciation and taxes is only $25k.

That helps minimize the risk of losing a property should things not go as planned (although things always go as planned, right?

I don't know the size of the house or the extent of the renovations needed, but if you can minimize what needs to be done to make it habitable, and keep the loan amount to conforming limits for your area, you could use a Homestyle Renovation loan to purchase and rehab the property. 

Identify properties with minimal monthly dues but will attract good tenants.