You seem like a more sophisticated investor who understands the question of the health of the general economic atmosphere.  

It is considered one of the most reliable barometers of the health of the US economy going forward.

if this is a single family home the lease should have a clause starting the tenant is responsible for all pests 30 days after they move in.understand the tenant may call the city inspector about this issue and because this is health related they will most likely make you pay for it.

Also, we know from the inspection that one unit is likely a health code violation due to the tenant’s living conditions.

The extra partnership filing spits out a k-1 which is the input to your regular 1040 filing.Perhaps if you told us what is your LLC filing status?  

My father-in-law's health has been steadily in decline and they no longer have any family nearby that could pitch in if an acute event happened.  

Family health/circumstances has me moving to Madison somewhat unexpectedly, so we'll likely be renting until we find a place to buy.I've been excited about real estate since I read (you guessed it) Rich Dad in about 2006.

Ranking them based on demand drivers, economic health and supply & demand.

I feel I am not only within my rights to contact the water company to verify but to also contact the county health department regarding Renter's Rights.  

So I don't bother with recording time any longer since I'm quite confident I meet that standard, no safe harbor is therefore needed.If you have multiple properties as I do you might be better served by simply working up a list upfront of all factors tending to establish the trade or business nature of your activities instead of tying yourself to unwieldy contemporaneous logs that must be kept ever year indefinitely.My list has about 30 factors that tend to establish trade or business status, very likely far more than I would ever need to prevail if challenged.