@Shane SmithYou are entitled to a deduction if it is ordinary and necessary to your business.Another follow-up question would be if you have to depreciate the payment or if you can write it off all in the first year.

The PROS of condos IMHO are the maintenance factors are pretty low since you own from the walls in and maybe a small patio area while the HOA's take care of the exterior maintenance, roof, building insurance, water, trash, sewer.

It has original windows, front patio needs pressure washing, and the landscape is simply grass up to the house.

We use the 10/10/10 method10% down, ten year loan and interest rate 9.9%**check with attorney and usury laws in state for max interest rate allowedNote: make sure to review with your cpa on how to handle the interest payments, depending on how they determine it may be taxed as ordinary income.Feel free touch base offline if more questions

He is also very suspicious... parks very large vans (about 4 to 6 at a time) in front of his property and on his driveway to cover the house, has cameras everywhere, is hanging cloths from his patio cover so no one can see the inside of the house, etc. 

Factors for this are they are passive and notes are typically considered ordinary income so better tax advantageWhen buying property you have to be careful of leverage and UBIT as well as you lose the tax benefits associated with it as well since it’s already tax deferred.

Or, if your investment holdings are in a Roth IRA, your investment gains accumulate tax-free, and you can withdraw it tax-free.You still must wait until you reach age 59½ to withdraw your funds, or else you will be subject to an early withdrawal penalty, and the withdrawal will be included as ordinary income on your tax return.

Bought below market value, adding Kitchen and patio

The analysis gets more complicated, because some of the capital gains will be depreciation recapture that could be at or close to your ordinary rate anyway.

Yes... it is a cost related to your business and one that is ordinary.