We go over there for holiday meals or for parties and she comes over to our house as well.

It is well worth the money for the knowledge and networking you will gain, not to mention the free meal given pretty much pays back your $25.

A meal or two should easily convince them to play along.I talk to the same guy every month about his house, we know about each others kids, vacations and end game.  

There are some expenses that are just capped (meals, etc).You need to check with a tax expert and assume that the rules do change so keeping up to date each year is a good idea.

In the dining, they tend to cool the food down during the meals.

Typically along the lines of: cooking (meals are prepared or they have a dining room), cleaning (they don't have to clean their room/apt), bathing (if it is a fall risk/concern), and potentially laundry, etc.People often confuse this with a nursing home which it is not, or at least the level of care shouldn't be at a nursing home level.

Maybe the market is healthier and you've got a nice, shiny property to rent for the long haul, or the market may have turned south and you don't meet your original projections. 

(I can recommend Nick's Rotissere on Washington for a quick takeout meal.)

Sarasota had a huge inventory 5 years ago, compared to the rest of Florida, but market is healthier now.

It really is a piece meal of systems to which we collect a ton of data and then merge it together ourselves.