Tom,Outside of being an issuer (finding your own deals, managing them to disposition) which enables you a lot of exemptions from being licensed, the only two options left are starting your own Fund (Special Purpose Vehicle - SPV) or getting licensed and having your company affiliate with a licensed broker dealer. 

In this scenario you would then have one of your companies as an active income vehicle, charging your passive income vehicle (the real estate company) for the management service.

That's a $25,000 increase on your initial investment, giving you a 25% return rather than just 5% which you’d be hard pressed to get with any other investment vehicle.

@Matthew Netwon IMHO, it's most important that they don't have any evictions, vehicle repossession, bankruptcy....that they do have verifiable income that they have been working for that company and/or in that field for several years or more.as @Marshall Leipprandt said, you should do rent comparables to determine a good starting point and then if you do/don't get enough calls, adjust accordingly. 

@Daniel Alzate,I know that @Ashish Acharya is taking on new clients and might be able to help you.Regarding Solo 401k - typically you don't need a CPA for this as 401k is tax-deferred vehicle and investments of the 401k do not affect your personal taxes, expect reporting of the contributions, which is very basic. 

I have bounced around the idea of building new 8 or 10 plex assets as an investment vehicle.

If there is such a vehicle available I would love to hear about it. 

If you trust the sponsor and the strategy aligns with your goals and objectives they can be a great investment vehicle. 

Obviously two different investment vehicles so do your research and see what works best for your scenario and tax situation.

Let them know you require the vehicle to be professionally cleaned first.