(It's precisely those frictional costs that make this so important. e.g. 6% agency fees on selling alone can take a big bite out of profits—or worse, keep you from breaking even.) 

@Tom S.Yes this is precisely what I was trying to get at!

Careful analysis of Association expenditures to identify those which are related to the MLS is therefore useful to determining the appropriate non-member MLS fee amount, although it is not necessary to compute those amounts with painstaking precision.5.

That's why we have architectural and engineering specifications, to show precise measurements, along with detail drawings showing specific elements and steps required for things like exterior walls.

The recipe: knowing what you're doing and people who you know and trust.Feel free to reach out if you have any more precise questions.

And it’s for precisely this reason that the Lindy effect is so useful when it comes to understanding them.

In fact, my wife and I are starting a business for that precise market.

@Darius Ogloza Thanks Dairus for the precise answer.

Flexibility is more important than precise down payments when you are getting started. 

Generalist CPAs are likely to know just enough to get you in trouble, since real estate accounting is a very specific animal.So, when you are interviewing a CPA, make sure that the main focus of their practice - or that they have someone in their practice whose main focus - is real estate.Then, you want to drill down a little further and make sure that their practice focuses on the precise kind of real estate you own!