Some are still going on virtually or with social distancing.

With social distancing guidelines, it would be difficult to start a local book club, but I always find that discussing what I’ve been reading with others helps me better understand the material.

My brother and I got along, but my social life suffered.

So I don't bother with recording time any longer since I'm quite confident I meet that standard, no safe harbor is therefore needed.If you have multiple properties as I do you might be better served by simply working up a list upfront of all factors tending to establish the trade or business nature of your activities instead of tying yourself to unwieldy contemporaneous logs that must be kept ever year indefinitely.My list has about 30 factors that tend to establish trade or business status, very likely far more than I would ever need to prevail if challenged.  

Due to furlough status since 04/01/2020 and reduction of work force, my position was eliminated.

With more than 10,000 businesses closing and more on the way, the second covid shutdown coming, over 1 million unemployment claims per week with total claims in the last 17 weeks of 51.3 million, and an official unemployment rate of 11% and real unemployment rate somewhere between 20 and 30%, and 4.1 million loans in forbearance = 8.2% of all mortgages, output is 11% lower than December of 2019, plus pending social unrest from either way the election goes, the whole system is unstable.

#1 Is also very likely to exacerbate existing problems (COVID spread, social stability, crime, etc). 

If the plan is to build a portfolio of properties over time without flipping (IE, not focusing on immediate income that would be subject to Social Security and Medicare Taxes), should we just start as an LLC?

Besides the socially responsible aspect, is there an ROI opportunity and/or marketing advantage across the board - decreased vacancy, decreased utility costs for tenant/landlord, more responsible tenants who are more likely to "partner" with you to maintain the property, etc.Basically, is including smart technology worth it?

What is the current status of the three properties you own?