I’ve just been made aware of an investor in my area looking to sell his Buy And Hold properties to simplify his life.

Right, if we're going by the 1% rule:the $250K(all cash deal) property should give you a $2,500 monthly income with no mortgage paymentthe $1.25M(20% or $250k down) property should net you $12,500 monthly income with a mortgage payment of about $4,000, which nets you $8,500.Obviously, these are very simplified numbers that don't take into account a few other factors which will add to your costs, but leveraging the mortgage will really multiply your returns.

You have free cash to go make another deal.I have over simplified things but you get the idea.  

.$3k is a bridge too far and provides inadequate roi but, if you want the crown molding and it makes you feel better about the project then why not have your carpenter put together a simplified 3 member crown from stock trim?

The home office deduction can either be calculated as the percentage of the home that is EXCLUSIVELY used for business (associated expenses would be multiplied by this percentage), or a simplified option which is $5/sqft with a maximum of 300 sqft.At any rate, this does nothing for you DTI.

Simplify your post and questions.

I also got "Real Estate for Dummies" which has less humor and is a bit dry, but it helps with all of the little details along the way and simplifies several concepts. 

Simplify the ProcessIf you want to spend less time arguing with renters over timely payments, make paying the rent as convenient as possible.

Let's simplify a bit and assume that I can figure out the ARV on my own.

I’m a new investor and I have what’s called info overload and I kind of need a simplified approach to procuring a deal after I find it and the steps that I should go through can any one help me with this seriously.