. $400 a month for utilities, $500 for misc expenses like toiletries, maintenance/repairs, landscaping etc. $150 a month for insurance (this might be low?).

In the event you fail an annual inspection where the property is occupied, then you will have the opportunity to make the appropriate repairs.

To make extra sure it appraises high enough for the refinance, this would be after I talk to an inspector and get a few GCs to bid the job, might also get a structural engineer to come up with a repair plan for the GCs to look at when getting me bids.

Fortunately everyone was ok and the insurance company has been no problem at all giving a full pay out which is valued at the purchase price in 2020.The pay out is not enough to repair/rebuild as the house was built in the 1920s and would not make sense in the location it is in.

This community is filled with people with different temperaments, talents, and convictions that are helping each other find ways to succeed in purchasing Real Estate, Automobiles, Planes, Boats, and now Businesses. 

Hey @Devin Bost, so if I need to ship something direct, I just ship it to my lake house and my neighbor will go and put it in the garage for me.I then let my cleaner know about whatever it is, usually toiletries and the like, so she can put them away.I am about 7 hours away from our rental so I do drive over 2-3 times a year to take a look, make small repairs and stock up stuff.

Unfinished repairs?

Prior-year losses can’t offset W-2 income but can be used for capital gains or future rental income.For audit risk, high earners using REPS face increased scrutiny, so be prepared with detailed records.For material participation, keep a time log with tasks, dates, and hours spent on rental activities like tenant management, repairs, and bookkeeping.

That’s with a property manager handling everything and after their fees and reasonable repairs and vacancies baked in.

That way the investor should have few repairs or surprises in the first 5-10 years because you are owning the property for the best years of the building's life.