Beyond that, when we do purchase a property we will be able to restore it more economically because of having the business in place. 

I am familiar with the history of the area but not so much the current state of affairs - both economic trends and current local initiatives. 

Considering the current economic environment, real estate market, and international tariffs... is now a good time to buy a rental property?

Proposition 10 will make California’s housing crisis worse. 

I'd be happy to share my thoughts on neighborhood specific economics and even share a bit about our economics i.e. the 1% rule is achievable but you have to be willing to either wait or work for it.

When you create an operating agreement there are some limits to what you can do but you could allocate him all depreciation in any given year and it would hold up as long as your agreements met the substantial economic effect rules. 

I am sure you came across this while googling, but I thought this site was interesting/helpful. http://www.mmac.org/economic-trends.htmlAs a numbers guy as well, I am curious to see what other resources folks on here are using! 

I think a good economic argument could be made for an air-source heat pump with a natural gas furnace to provide backup below certain temperatures.

Keep in mind some properties are economically obsolete … along with functionally obsolete.. be careful.. in this day and age with the internet and this irrational exuberance to be landlords there are not many markets that are totally under the radar that are viable.. 

Not sure if a bankruptcy would change the parameters or not but that may be a better option for the seller. yes if the bank reports the debt as forgiven.. there is an IRS form though you can file with your tax's that says your broke.. then you don't own the tax's on the forgiven amount.. during the crisis IRS postponed this so no one got that treatment but that sunset and now short sales or debt forgiveness needs to be calculated …. the forgiven debt is tax as ordinary income so a 1 mil forgiveness could be a 300 to 400k tax bill..