Meet a material participation test such as 500 hours or at least 100 hours and more than any other person.

First thing you have to realize with a reit, is it must be passive.

At some point people realize they can't borrow their way out of debt, they need alternatives, this is an alternative that doesn't need banks and large bank fees. 

Also I do realize I would lose the tax benefits and also the tenant paying down the mortgage monthly etc, if I sell.I have an unused HELCO on the property for $150k, and dont want to refinance.

I realized it's probably not worth getting a property manager.

I understand that these parameters are largely dependent on everyone's situation, so here's more context: - I live in California and am planning to buy my first rental property outside of California (I'm planning to do buy and hold) - I was initially considering establishing an LLC in order to protect my personal assets, but I realized via other threads (link) that doing so would cost me about $800 / year since I am a California resident, and the law requires me to establish the LLC in California.

Look at some of the books offered here but realize that some are dated in terms of reno costs, etc. 

I don't believe there have yet been significant "realized" losses with any of his funds.

On top of all that, I realized I hated being a landlord. 

Sorry, I just realized our REIA meeting is that night.