The former is active business income, and the latter is not business income, and is also sheltered by the section 121 exclusion, assuming you meet the requirements.

Any RE meetings/events happening near downriver MI?

@Matthew Paul - spoke to the Wife and she is not comfortable with keeping our house as a rental. she strictly thinks the new tenants will beat it up and leave it in a state where we'd have to sink money into it to fix it up before selling. also, if we hold it for a number of years, she is fearful that it will be "out of date" and we'll need to sink money into it to remodel it as well.i am more of a risk taker than her and do not agree but we have to come to a consensus.we also would likely need the profit of the current home to move into the next home - for a down payment.creative options/ideas?

You can meet them at local real estate meetups (Google "mytown real estate investor association").I would say you're off to a great start by knowing exactly what you want.

After reading posts about out-of-state investors owning/flipping many properties they have never seen in person before due to today's technology, I began to think... are there any situations where you feel like you MUST go visit your property or meet your agent, property manager, or GC in person?

Louis City, what are some good ways to meet them?

I’m only taking half of the profits, but I’m also paying for half the deal, working half the time, and have the benefit of added motivation to meet my commitments to both my partner and the business.  

I think that in my life situation if I can find properties that will reliably cash flow, then I will be able to build out enough equity over the long-term to meet all my goals.Originally posted by @Dewey Golub:Forrest, I would also pick a primary focus of equity growth or cash flow (of course try to maximize both). 

@Ethan Josiah  If you are looking to take cash out with a conventional loan in the first 6 months of ownership then you will have to meet the delayed financing guidelines.  

Do you (or anyone else on here) think there is such a thing as too early to start going to meet ups?