I've been wanting to get some advice from people about my specific situation, but there's a lot so I'll try to keep it to the point;In short, I'm wanting to "officially" start my real estate investing journey, making it my source of income - and I'm wanting to do house flipping as my strategy, at least initially.  

However, my US investors are required by the IRS to report it.

I would reach out to the broker to get his recommendation and they may already have a quote. 

When I want to rent out this house, I am thinking of leasing it to an LLC which will have both me and my wife as members and that LLC will be leasing it out to the tenants.

I most want to avoid spending considerable time showing units in-person to prospective renters, esp. before we've pre-screened them.

However, this is a difficult qualification to meet, especially if you have a full-time job outside of real estate.Don’t worry if you aren’t able to qualify for REPS status, because there is another strategy that is referred to as a “loophole”, which is the STR strategy.Per Section 1.469-1T(e)(3)(ii)(A): there are six exceptions where your rental property income is not automatically considered to be “rental activity” and thus may unlock the door for being able to offset these losses against your active income.The average customer use is seven days or less.The average customer use is 30 days or less and significant personal services were provided (for example, daily housekeeping).Extraordinary personal services are provided, regardless of the duration of customer use.The rental is incidental to a non-rental activity.The property is available during defined business hours for non-exclusive use by various customers.The property is used in an activity conducted by an S Corporation, partnership or joint venture in which the taxpayer holds an interest.If your property qualifies by meeting one of the exceptions above, the next step is to demonstrate material participation in the rental activity.

I'm happy to help in any way that I can.

Been to a couple in Brooklyn.

here is the situation. i left a really good paying job to take care of my 81 year old parents because my dad is chronically ill and my mom is almost there. i wont go into too much detail, but my sis doesnt help them. ill leave it at that. we have a person who comes twice a week to help with cleaning and other household tasks. i carry the bulk of the weight cooking their meals, running errands, grocery shopping, picking up meds, and taking them to dr appointments. its a full time job. i get a small salary of $1000 a month from a care giver sub contractor for the VA. ive been paying my bills with what savings ive had, but only have a few months of funds left. i own a duplex. i have over 200k in equity. i live in texas and texas has weird laws about refi and heloc/heloans when the property is 4 units or less and owner occupied. i would rather not sell, but if thats my only option i will have to at some point.does anyone have any advice or possibly be able to point me to lenders who might be able to work with my situation?

There's been a few Houston developers on Biggerpockets podcast episodes.One that comes to mind is Donovan Adesoro.