Depreciation is a deduction against passive income (Sch E), and it is never "written off against ordinary gains" (which is not a correct expression either way).Here is the IRS Publication 527 link.Dealing with HOA is not my area of expertise, but I suggest to approach them nicely.

I have met a few other investors in my area who have expressed interest in private funding, so they could be an option BUT I'm VERY new to this. 

I know that on the residential side the process is pretty structured, but how does it work on the commercial step by step before you actually sign a purchase and sale agreement, that is you are expressing your interest to purchase and documenting what you need from the seller but before you make any non-retractable commitment?

Since I've started doing this and have talked to people about it, I've run across quite a few people that have expressed interest.

Tenant has expressed interest in buying.

Some of the bigger/contractor oriented Ace hardware stores could also have, or be able to order the drive bits with about a 2 day delivery.

Words can't express the excitement of looking at (and xeroxing before depositing) my first check from flipping a property.

Even when I price a unit well, I find that the people who come see it seem genuinely interested and then just slowly disappear and I never hear back after the first followup.The strategies I've started using are:-scheduling open-house style showings during a specific window of time so I don't have to make 8 separate appointments-sending reminders to each person who expressed interest before a showing (even if they weren't sure they could make it)-follow up with tenants that I really liked or who expressed the most interestI'm interested to hear from others on the forum what kind of tips and tricks you have to get tenants to seal the deal.

Once the Home Buyer finds the home they will put 15% down payment in escrow to express their interest in the home. 

She did reach out to me as I expressed interest a year ago to her.