Final regulations provide limited guidance, but IRS gives a safe harbor.The new tax break applies to qualified business income from a trade or business.The final regs continue to refer to the standard under federal tax code Section 162,the statute that generally governs the deductibility of trade or business expenses.Unfortunately, this standard is somewhat unclear in the context of a rental activity.That’s because it’s based on facts and circumstances specific to each taxpayer.Among the relevant factors: Type of property leased (commercial or residential),extent of day-to-day involvement by the lessor or the lessor’s agents, lease terms,number of properties rented and other ancillary services provided under the lease.The safe harbor applies if at least 250 hours are devoted to the rental activityby the property owner, employees or independent contractors in a year.

Personally, I would shop around for independent mortgage lenders and work with them since, in my experience, they tend to be quicker and a little bit more flexible on their lending.

For me, and from what I've heard on the podcasts and from investors, real estate INVESTING seems to be the best, most fulfilling option towards independence, freedom, self-preservation, and self-actualization. 

I put in a condition in our Independent Contractor's Agreement for a 1% per-day-overage-fee past the estimated finish date, but I am hesitant to bring that up, since these guys still have to finish the job, and I may want to hire them again in the future.

The basement is a fully independent unit with a full kitchen, private front and back entrances, and a washer/dryer and is being used as an Airbnb bringing in $80 a night and roughly $1000 a month.

DREs cannot pay their owners wages/salary as they are not considered employees.Only S Corps and C Corps can pay their owners a wage or salary.C Corps are the only one of these entities which have "double taxation" in the traditional sense of the word, which means both entity level tax and tax on extraction of capital (via dividends).Disregarded entities do not.Multimember LLCs (MMLLCs) taxed as partnerships also cannot pay their owners a wage/salary as owners cannot be employees for federal income tax purposes.The article also suggests you can choose between employee and independent contractor classification. 

You have to issue 1099s to non-employee independent contractors that rendered services to your entity and were paid $600 or more during the year.

My end goal (for now is a pretty general statement) would be to earn financial independence through Real Estate, however in the mean time I would love an opportunity to network and learn from those of you who are more seasoned than I am. 

You will win your independence and be doing solo deals in no time.

We are an independent insurance agent and have a number of commercial insurance companies that can take a look at your property.