In my experience no city planner or dept. worth their salt will ever pre-commit themselves on zoning matters, particulary when there's a zone change.

I have a written guarantee from the BC side to purchase the property, now I know the word guarantee in this business is just that a word...lol But my BC buyer is a Regulation D fund that has committed to buying the property way before I even found it.

I tell people I do not have time as I am spending it on clients who have made a commitment to me for my time and services.If I make thousands per hour for my time then someone asking me for free crap is not only not bringing me money in it is taking money  out of my pocket because I can use that time for clients.What might be better is paying for ongoing consulting services.

Realistically, once you get a tenant in place, with the right processes and systems set up, the time commitment can be pretty minimal, whether you self-manage or hire a property manager.  

And if he/she files your taxes appropriately and declares your rental income and depreciates the property you will be committing fraud.Your primary residence is where you live. 

So you want to make sure that everything is examined before committing to anything. 

For everyone's reference I currently own in Boston, MA and have an personal interest in that area as well as Portland, ME where I have family and friends living.Now that I look through numbers I realize how much the person I bought from made off me because of my fear in committing to a gut and rehab project like this was.  

Hi All,I want to first start out by saying thank you to the many of you that I have had the chance to connect with through Bigger Pockets, both over lunch/coffee and here online.With that being said, over the past two years, my wife and I have virtually eliminated all of our "bad" debt and currently saving capital for our first real estate investment purchase.We have truly been committing ourselves to better understanding the in's and out's through our own research and are getting much closer to finally taking action.I am from San Diego, recently moved to Orange County, and I'm sure as many of you know the entry level capital required for investing in CA is quite high due to the cost of living (I could be completely mistaken as I only know the OC & SD market to an extent).

Condos are fine but make sure you understand all the HOA rules and fees prior to committing to a purchase.I know BP members have mix feelings toward condos, some just avoid them and there are some that’s all they buy.Also be aware you might have less Finance Options if majority of owners in Condo are investors..

I know that on the residential side the process is pretty structured, but how does it work on the commercial step by step before you actually sign a purchase and sale agreement, that is you are expressing your interest to purchase and documenting what you need from the seller but before you make any non-retractable commitment?