Sounds like that defeats the whole purpose.

The best possible scenario is be active first before being passive, of course that will defeat the purpose of your post.

The S-corp requires a separate tax return, so the prep for that can defeat the purpose of the savings on self employment tax when the income is less than $55,000 (usually the sweet spot I see).Asset Protection comes in all varieties but the best is the protections of an LLC in combination with land trusts.

Paying off a mortgage defeats the advantages of investing in rental properties. 

You can put multiple properties under one property LLC but it defeats the purpose of protecting the assets by not separating them. 

If you haven’t given this type of notice, the tenant may successfully defeat a rent-nonpayment eviction lawsuit based on a three-day notice that includes rents before you gave the notice.

Fishing in the bitterroot river and valley is something we do every year as well..these are totally different things than investing in low end rentals in the mid west.also in my mind Texas is appropriate if your going to live there.. to live in CA and pay high state tax on income derived from states with no income tax and UBER high property tax's defeats the purpose in my mind not to mention soil and storms.. but just my experience foundations are not if but when ( to correct them) and new roofs because of hail are about the same thing..

Also with this route, i wouldnt make anything in cash flow. wouldnt that defeat the purpose?

If not, the bathroom cannot be included in the final bath count or they'll have to submit it 'subject to' which defeats the purpose.

Most banks will only lend to me in my own name at the 5%, but that defeats the purpose of having the LLC in the first plae plus I would have to incur a pair of transfer taxes.