Along with the new tax cuts! 

We also have pretty high property tax bills (around 2% of the purchase price/property value) that eat into a lot of the rental income. 

Look for properties with low taxes, separate utilities, strong demand, and potential for rent increases.

Many of these were lost in tax sales, and the ones that they got re-performing underwrote loan mods at low single digit interest rates during ZIRP and could not resell them at a profit once interest rates were hiked.

If you only plan on owning 2-4 properties, then there's really no harm in self-funding them unless you know a better, safer way to make more than the going interest rate on that money (most investment mortgages right now are about 7%, maybe effectively 5.5-6% after taxes depending on your brackets and tax structure).

Expenses: What are the operating expenses, including taxes, insurance, maintenance, and reserves?

There are several different types of income in the US tax code.Two main types are “active income” and “passive income".Active income is money you earn from working, such as wages from a W-2 job or income from running a business.Passive income is money you earn from investments like real estate, stocks, or rental income from your RE portfolio where you earn $ without actively working.Normally, you can't use passive losses (like losses from real estate investments) to offset active income like your salary from a W-2 job.That is unless you are an RE Pro.The reality is, that Real Estate Pro status is just a filing status similar to filing married or jointly.And if you are a real estate professional you CAN use passive real estate losses to offset active income from other sources.To qualify as an RE Pro you must:1.

SECTION 8 ANALYSISSection 8 Rent permitted            $1785.30Subtract Utility Allowance             - 468.00    Actual Rent Charged               $1317.30Subtract Mortgage                         - 500.00Subtract Prop Mgmt Fee               - 131.73Subtract Taxes (20%)                     - 263.46Subtract 10% Vacancy                   - 131.73Subtract 10% Cap Ex                      - 131.73            CASHFLOW TO US             $ 158.65STANDARD LEASE ANALYSISMonthly rent (asking amt

OK i have real experince at this having bought CA tax sales for decades..

You may need to register as a foreign entity, file a tax return, and pay taxes in PA.