I do not operate that way and try to only maintain the best tenants in regards to payment.

This is your capital investment, you do get the deduct the capital investment but over 27.5 years for the residential rental property via depreciation. 3) The operation of the business will generate you a loss, and that loss will offset your rental income.

As a PM, you could handle the day-to-day operations and the partner could play role of silent partner, financier or whatnot?     

Consult an attorney to draft the operating agreement of your LLC.

If you do keep them, I would also advise taking them to a gun shop to get checked out for safety to ensure they are actually in operable and safe condition for use.

I operated at a small loss for years but when you add depreciation I'm sitting on 35k of deferred losses on paper (my W2 income was too high to claim the losses).

nice cash in the bank.. and then be the bank.. not the operator. sometimes being the bank you end up as the operator by default.  

My wife and I have a "vertically integrated vacation rental development and operation" business for the past 14 years. 

From your website and marketing efforts to finding great partners who can help you succeed, you will find your time getting eaten up by a lot of things that are not the core of your business.

Following the sage wisdom of David Greene, our plan is to establish a "Core 4" team in a few different markets and develop those into profitable business relationships.As we've just started on this path, any advice is welcome, and anyone interested in working with motivated fledgling investors, please feel free to reach out!