What do you all use for your properties? 

Use inspection to renegotiate or walk if needed.Bridge the cash gap with seller credits, disciplined saving, or a small partner (keep terms simple and written).

As this has been a material sight on the horizon-- notice I said sight not obstacle--for some time as well as some other QCs.

By the end you will know if this strategy could potentially work for you or not and is worth pursuing further.Material ParticipationIn order to change your real estate into an Active Loss, you must be “Materially Participating” in the property, or be classified by the IRS as a “Real Estate Professional”.

I built something cool around it (well a developer did), but I am the visionary and have closed 8 houses this year with it.

Would love to hear from anyone who’s navigated this or has insight into how the IRS views ownership and participation in these scenarios.Thanks in advance!

So, i've been thinking about using this saved up money to buy my first rental.I'm not a very handy person.

i have 1 property in Stamford and looked into Hartford 6+ years ago and decided not to invest there as I'm not local. 

Find a good market (look at landlord friendly states) and use the agent finder to get a good realtor that owns property.

@Stephen Nelson this covers it!