A real estate business is not different then any other self employment income.

Add maintenance/cap ex, vacancy, PM, misc and this is likely negative more than $500/month even if self managed (much more than the negative $200 that you indicate you are ok with) 2) if you are behind on mortgage, how are you going to handle being negative $200/month, or more like negative $500/month?

I am putting together a pitch book for an $8M ground up self storage development.

With regard to your "DST" and as with many highly structured tax vehicles that have a potential "self dealing" quality to them, there are a number of potential potholes you can easily step in along the way (e.g., constructive receipt doctrine, effective control over nominal 3rd party relationships, lack of genuine risk bearing and compliance with transactional terms, etc.).

No personal experience with PMs since we’re local and self manage, but there are 1-2 that I’ve heard good things about. 

Mine is boredom between Self Storage and Country subdivisions.  

@Tessa Mac You can certainly rollover your old 403b plan into a self-directed account. 

My point is that investing in something because others are is not a sufficient reason for me. 

Given that the industrial market is softer than the prior few years, I intend to buyout/wait until current leases expire and leverage the space into self-storage. 

I self-manage and produce $700 in pure cash flow each month.Lessons learned?