Thank you, I hope to be more active on here in the very near future.

And while I love tenant screening and believe in its value, I am frustrated that there isn't widespread visibility into specific renter payment activity (which would be great for landlords), and even rent payments into credit reports (which would be great for the renters).  

I use Insightly for CRM apart from proprietary CRM software modules as part of two seperate ERP systems in our other lines of businesses (brokerage and property management), it requires some work to set up all processes (pipelines and activity sets for each activity).

I will be actively working part time in 2016 and have a goal of $20 my first year as part time.

So if your goal is to try to maintain the passive nature of real estate activity, it can backfire on you if you are not a real estate professional.

Do the activities in this particular case arise to the level of quantum meruit; ALA the painting?

I recommend listening to the podcasts and staying active on the forums.  

I enjoy many outdoor activities (running, biking, surfing, and skiing) as well as traveling.  

Just remember that wholesaling and flipping are active income, which means time spent for dollars earned.

You need to actively be involved in them.