The trick will be finding the B/E point, and that will determine how much you have to leave in. 

@Janis E BorrotoBe careful with the term "silent partner."

If you put the property under a S Corp, the gain/loss would still flow over to your personal schedule E.  

Thank you from Devin Lenders usually want to see two years of stable employment in the same career, but there can be some flexibility.

I am interested in approaching this from the standpoint of a newbie who is trying to use real estate both to diversify with something a bit more stable from my day job (we own retail stores) and ultimately find more balance in life.  

@Brad Cook - stable income is most definitely not part of the mortgage industry. 

I too am looking into getting my R/E license 

And if after a while I have a portfolio of strong stable properties while working my day job, even better.Long story short, I could get 10% through stocks, etc. but the primary difference is that I take pride in seeing something physical in operation, vs. just numbers on a screen.

Not operating as an LLC or other type of business, taxes will be on 1040 Schedule E. 

Hi Darryl, Nice to e-meet you.