By doing the books myself I get to look at all my transactions and ask myself "why the heck am I spending so much on that."

Jason is essentially the Rex Kwon Do of real estate negotiating.Honestly, you can get 10x the negotiating education by spending an hour on John Martinez's YouTube, BiggerPockets or any number of $20 books.

Spend is ads manager plus market spend (PPC spend), and closing about 4-5 deals off of them within the past 6 months.

Note that if you are married filing joint, only the spouse who is qualifying for REPS is able to count their hours.Step 4: Apply the quantitative testsPer Section 469(c)(7)(B), in order to qualify for REPS, you must meet both of the tests below:750-Hour Test: If you materially participate in a real property trade or business, you must spend 750+ hours during the tax year.More Than Half Test: You must spend more than half of your personal service hours in the real property trade or business in which you materially participate.Step 5: Material participation in rental activities Just because you qualify for real estate professional status does not mean that your rental activities are automatically considered non-passive.

The most important thing you need for that is a great cleaner who is also willing to do non-cleaning tasks for you when needed.I think it makes the most sense to hire a PM when you want to buy back your time and spend your time doing something more valuable than self-managing or simply having the freedom to pursue something else that matters to you.It can also make sense if you don't want to spend the necessary time to educate yourself on how to self-manage the right way.

I am asking because we spend an awful lot of money on REI platforms and not one of them has everything I need. 

I've seen my clients with those coastal properties spending a lot on insurance.

Spend the money to get an enclosed propane fireplace.

I would say 30k would be a good amount.You could spend alot more or substantial less.You can save some money by buying quality used furniture off Craigslist or FB marketplace. 

The macroeconomics are strong—population is growing, job growth is on fire, and we’ve got huge employers like Intel, Amazon, Google, Facebook, Honda, Microsoft, and LG investing billions here.