That said, I will definitely have a ton of questions in the coming months.I also like beer and green apples.

I have a different method than Michael Paris on this one, I give out an rfq to the lumber yard, I have the architect call out types of wood, bolts, and other accessories (osb, doug, etc) to obtain apples to apples bids; on my rfq I put any miscalculations in quantity is going to come from their end. price lock for 2 months.

My pleasure @Tyler Divine...1) Essentially same advice as posted about in your lumber purchasing post... detail the scope of work, specify fixtures or state the allowance for them, and review all bids to ensure apples to apples.2) Funny you should ask about poor soils, as I was recently consulted by a builder on this very topic as they didn't perform soil tests prior to acquisition and excavation and spent upwards of $70K on the fix!

At my purchase price, the GRM as well as $/unit (comparing apples to apples in terms of LL expenses) is right on par with the area, maybe about $5k below the norm. 

Hey @Grant Boynton I was talking about the rental property calculators on the site: http://biggerpockets.com/calcWe now have both apps for android and iOs.

This is good for investors also, a floorplan given to a contractor and a separate scope of work page will give them apples to apples bid.

Section 179 is great but keep something in mind - you will no longer be allowed to deduct business miles - it is either or - you cannot take two bites from the same apple.

There are some bad apples up there in St.

To be specific I live in Sunnyvale where all the tech companies are and continue moving in (Goolge, apple, linkedin, yahoo just to name a few).

The short term and / or IO loans of 24 months or less won't be in compliance with Dodd-Frank.