Hi Kenyatta,I am active in New Orleans and Baton Rouge and have rentals in both.

Are you actively investing or have an active portfolio?

There's a few good meetups here that I'm very active in.

Is anyone still active in the Houston Area?

As active realtor, and investor I get a lot of people approaching me who want to invest. 

@Victor Yang To use the rental losses to offset any active income (W2), you'd have meet Real Estate Professional status (which would be difficult to do with a W2 job because you'd have to work more on real estate than any other job to qualify) OR have an AGI of $150K or less.

The industry continues to see consolidation, with private equity-backed firms actively acquiring, albeit at a slightly slower pace than the frenzy a few years back.

Keep in mind that the sponsors with the longer track records and deeper bench of investors are unlikely to use some of the newer exemptions. 

In my opinion it would be cleaner to split partnership based on monetary contribution and then remunerate each active party for their work if the active work is more on one partner than the other.

but careful planning and documentation are essential""...making sure that your wife understands what she needs to do to document her hours and activities."