@Patrick Flanagan no one's mentioned the challenge of MAINTAINING TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD!

I just buy in good locations and control what I can (forcing appreciation, managing and maintaining properties well).

As a side note for education expense, you may deduct education that maintains or improves your current job skills or that is required by law or your employer - as long as the education does not qualify you for a new business. 

Another great prep strategy is to have the building pre qualified with a local or experienced lender for potential buyers to connect with and or they could entertain a full or portion seller carry back if they want to maintain some income.

The required education must serve a bona fide business purpose of your employer.The education maintains or improves skills needed in your present work.However, even if the education meets one or both of the above tests, it is not qualifying work-related education if it:Is needed to meet the minimum educational requirements of your present trade or business orIs part of a program of study that will qualify you for a new trade or business.You can deduct the costs of qualifying work-related education as a business expense even if the education could lead to a degree.

It's nice to have access to the MLS data and how easy it is to set up a showing of a property that I want to see.The downside is you will have to pay the broker, MLS, and NAR fees along with continuing education requirements to maintain your license which can sometimes not be worth it.The biggest perk for me was having people I know come to me to list their house for them but instead I would just offer to buy it and make the process easy for them.

I've run the numbers on homes in our price range within a 3hr drive radius of our zip and they just don't make sense as rental units.I'm fluent in Spanish so other than the financing problem maintaining a rental in Costa Rica vs another market in the USA that requires a flight is fairly comparable from my perspective.Its funny because buying a sub 70k house anywhere in the US would be so easy for us.

This can be complex and requires agreement on the valuation and division.Continued Joint Ownership: In some cases, continuing to own the assets jointly and managing them through the LLC may be an option, especially if they are profitable and both parties are willing to maintain a business relationship.

I'd make it clear to her that you appreciate the relationship and would like to maintain that relationship in the event you will buy or sell again, however you'd like to hire someone with expertise specifically in property management to manage the rental.

I require my tenants to buy and maintain Renters Insurance with $300,000 in liability coverage.