Choice #2 historically is by far the best choice.  

The numbers are tight, offsets are low but are historically accurate representations. 

Because of your building's age, there are many pros that do pointing work who would recommend that only a "historic lime mortar mix" be used when pointing that cellar.

@Mike Terry Historically, when interest rates go up enough, they push down prices because fewer buyers qualify.

I've heard both sides and that some people say that we are still historically low when it comes to interest rates.

I just want to ensure that we request enough data from the seller that we are able to make an informed decision based on historical property data and not completely on assumption.

I think it may be useful to look at it based on how much future income i am going to have to give the owner to purchase.For instance say my city has had historic cap rates on multi fam in the 7-8% range, but I am going to have to go down @6% to get it done, so that is say $166k on a hypothetical $70k net property, or 2.3 years of noi i will have to give the back to the owner.Would you take this deal or stay un-invested?

Hi David - Have you spoken to your accountant regarding how these expenses have been historically allocated for any financial / tax reporting requirements that you might have?

For the time being, I am focusing my efforts around residential deals in the Shepard Historic District and Village area. 

I would think your a slam dunk at a bank.. but Visio is for real.and your smart to know that there are all sorts of fake lenders on the internet.good place to start is to see if they are licensed and then look up their license.. also dont let the tax dog wag your tail.. sometimes its best just to take your cash pay cap gains at these historic low rates then to buy something that is not going to do much for you.and if you don't get the benefit of no state income tax in Texas i would be cautious with that state prop tax's and other weather issues.