There is a way to turn passive income/losses from real estate into active income/losses by declaring real estate professional status on your taxes.

@Aaron MoayedIn order to take full advantage of everything real estate investing has to offer, you need to research on how you can qualify for "real estate professional" status.

@Chidi Dillibe3-4 units can be tough with FHA in CA due to the high costs of properties and the self-sufficiency rule: The maximum mortgage amount for 3-4 unit properties is limited, so that the ratio of the monthly mortgage payment, divided by the monthly net rental income does not exceed 100%, regardless of the occupancy status.

@Wayne Brooks  bob Diamond and a few others are hitting it hard on social media.. 

Investments made in alignment with high quality communities tend to be more stable, more resilient and lease up faster then the status quo.

Rented to both students and social service recipients.

Here the social-economic system is totally different ( high tax rates and unstable Banking system etc.) from US but the opportunities remain attractive for a real estate investor! 

This will defer all of the tax liabilities.Parts of the tax code can be combined to achieve this, but 1031 is the simplest, most straightforward, and can be conducted by any investor (read: accredited status not required.)

When you recieve rent the IRS considers it passive income and it is not subject to FICA, FUTA, Social Security etc. 

I'll share what I like to do when researching comps on a property, (this is what I do before getting a realtor from the area involved) when you have time go to Redfin.com type in the zipcode for the property, under "Listing Status" it says For Sale, hit the slider so it changes to off and Sold populates.