That's why the first element in a quality study is preparation by an individual with expertise and experience.

After we paid, I reached out to another STR owner who recommend her tax preparer.

This is cut-and-paste from our doc request packet...PREPARE YOUR ENTITY DOCUMENTS: The great thing about investor loans is that once we have the basic documents from the borrower, we simply need to make sure they are current and updated periodically.

I always have my attorney prepare the documents.  

But yes, you should have a CPA, and the one smart enough to properly prepare your taxes over the years should have an easy handle on this too.

My "guru" has shared some thoughts on that, but I'm interested in additional opinions.I'm not afraid of hard work, but I'd appreciate any thoughts on what I need to be prepared for if I head down this road, as well as opinions on the risks I'm signing up for.

Tax preparers usually charge another $500 to prepare the 3115 calculation schedules per property so that saves you money.

Tax preparers usually charge another $500 to prepare the 3115 calculation schedules per property so that saves you money.

We are preparing our house for rent and need to update our stairs spindles and steps.

If you are prepared for that and have the funds to do repairs and renos to get them to market value, then try it.