Determine the price that attracts the investor, stop the bleeding and and move on.

I am looking to purchase real estate for both investment purpose as well as to offset as much tax liability as possible.  Is my thinking correct that homes in highly appreciated areas won't benefit as much from Cost S...

., mortgage interest, taxes, repairs, depreciation) on Schedule E starting when the property is placed in service.

It depends on who you're hiring but that seems fairly standard.  

Any advice on how to get out of this stagnant stuck feeling?

Fortunately lenders are starting to seeing the bigger picture and comp these additions more in-line with multi-family, rather than SFH which it is. 7842 Lasaine Ave, Northridge.

A monthly fee (typically around $5-20/mo) is added on to the payment.

I have done it successfully on my last 2 buildouts, maybe 3, but only because I was able to acquire the properties at a very low price and I did all the work in-house (myself and some hired hands on staff).

Not really sure how to go about financing but we're planning on having a down payment at or slightly above $100,000 and don't want to pay more than $3100ish per month. 

I recently signed up for BP and found the calculators on this site to be very helpful.