Yup, guilty as charged! 

I am guilty of being a little too conservative.

I've been guilty of the same thing.  

Those Investors were silent partners and did not really understand what they were doing.Most of those Investors were also guilty of signing a waiver as an Accredited Partner, which is needed to buy shares in a Private Corp.The list of fraud went on and on.I quit attending REIAs and other organizations which preached these kinds of "alternative" ways of funding your real estate investments.These things go on day after day, year after year, and while it's illegal, people get away with it as long as everyone is making money.Anyway, that's what I was seeing when I started reaching out to these Real Estate Network meetings.

I might have been guilty of "over-renovating" a property for my future rentals had I not learned this. 

It sounds like you will have the ability to come up with actuals, maybe even more accurate than the buyers, but unfortunately you're going to be guilty by association and those numbers will by and large be ignored. 

Truth is I spent a ton of time on here pleading my case, giving my opinions, and laying out the facts, and debating right and wrong. 

Plead your case. 

Since IRS is based on guilty until proven innocent mentality, if I am audited, I would never be able to prove my write offs are ordinary and necessary to my business.

Guilty.