When it is a new development, it isn't uncommon to see someone use the date the Certificate of Occupancy was issued - perhaps that marks the "ready", but it still might not be "available".So you can certainly have a property in service in a given year, but not actually have any rental income - but certainly your facts and circumstances are much better if you can actually get a tenant in there, that (should) shore up your defense on that question ever coming up unless you are playing weird games just to get a given in service date for tax purposes.

You can learn to do some things yourself...but make sure you have someone who has experience, who you can trust, in either your geographic area or the skill set, that you need to develop, to give their opinion. 

For example, let's say there was a major development on rent control, that would allow me to pivot and understand next steps.

I was running construction and development for a company that owned a massive piece of land they had developed over the decades.

I was able to connect my mentor with a CEO, COO, and Chief Development Officer all from different parking companies. 

Hello, I recently purchased a property and right across the street is what seems to be a vacant property in a developing neighborhood.

There are a few big developments coming going up that will likely be new buil leased units.

Anything you buy in Columbus will appreciate like crazy because of great macroeconomics - there's population growth, job growth, and companies like Intel, Google, Amazon, etc. moving and developing here.

For example, brick homes can last hundreds of years if taken care of compared to some new stick built development homes.

But my background and experience is in Business Development, and Marketing Strategy in close integration with sales, so I figure I at least have some transferable skills that'll allow me to make the most out of property as an asset class.