Why does the real estate industry in general think each segment is entitled to thousands of dollars for really crappy customer service?

The 50% rule is much more valuable and critical (again In My Opinion), as we've self managed multi-family property here for the last 8 years and found it to be a fairly accurate predictor of actual expenses, once you include all the things people don't usually think about - Capital expenses, management, marketing, to name but a few.The numbers you give lead me to believe this is an average (but reasonable) deal for a duplex in Anchorage and the reason it looked good initially is that this is the one of , if not THE, hottest segment of the market right now.

Just in this post, it's clear you are learning as you are going which is great, but you are focusing on a risky (for you) segment of real estate.

Some factors might include which economic segments are seeing the biggest exodus, which are seeing the biggest loss of both income and employment, etc.Yes, "Collapsing" may be a bit strong.

Segmented / accelerated deprectaion - many investors will look to sell after the accelerated deprecation is completed.aggressively set basis - limiting value of land Repair vs renovation expenses Self manage vs property managerKid labor  - pay own kid to mow the lawn, etcexpenses associated with buying and owning propertyChapter S vs LLC - you can pay yourself as an employee and retain earnings within the entity.1031 exchange - It is a tough thing to make happen.  

I just recorded part one of a segment talking about that.

On-time payments led to lay payments, to segmented payments, and now no rent paid in Dec. and Jan.

So,A- I think you will need to get experience in the specific RE segment you get interested in.

Contacts database (marketing contacts and non-marketing contacts (title & escrow, ins. agent)Hard money lending is a small niche and the broker segment is even smaller and most don't invest in software.

Some investors on here are very successful in this segment.