Since all the tenants and the customers and clients use the shared parking lot, it is a common maintenance expense, and all tenants will share the benefit in having a parking lot free from snow, ice, and other debris, and therefore share proportionately in this cost.

@Michael Plaks thanks for explaining - seems like there is lack of clarity even among folks who handle tax preparation as professionals 😏One thing that struck me when I looked at my return is that my losses have been categorized as non-passive.

This immediately struck me as odd as I wasn't aware of any form of compensation to the PM for any maintenance related activities, just 8% of gross rent and 1-month of rent to lease the property, per our contract.Naturally I wanted to understand the nature of this arrangement, specifically how much mark-up is being charged, so I referenced a specific sewer repair bill from 2015 that was $2,600 and asked him if he could provide the vendor invoice so I could understand how much the vendor charged and how much revenue the PM recognized.  

It struck me that 1) why can't a private group buy loans just like banks sell loans to one another and 2) why can't I do it?

@Tony Kim I think you`re just looking at the allocation of money strictly from a Return on  "investement" (being a poor investment), where as the point of a Life Insurance/Living Benifits policy. what your Paying for is in case the individual becomes incapacitated/ has an Illness or Dies, there is a large sum of money that the family receives (and would not otherwise have) to help pay for expenses associated with the unfortunate event, and being able to carry on with life with less of a financial burden compounded with the emotional burden . being able to have retirement money liquid is icing on the cake. 

You have family that has worked hard and struck gold in the Bay area.

Debt for a cash flowing investment property in a good neighborhood with a minimum 25% equity stake doesn't make me nervous for the following reasons:  the debt makes the property less of a target for lawsuit scammers,  re-fi loan proceeds are tax free money for me to spend,  with a 20 year loan a decent amount of debt is retired every 5-7, and market appreciation is icing on the cake.

Within a year my wife and I acquired four multi-families properties with a total of 20 units, and eventually another building to rent out (currently a bait and tackle shop) as well as an Ice House.

Cash flow is great if you can get it, but it's the icing, not the cake.Consider that Denver has averaged 6% year-over-year appreciation for more than 40 years.

They came out the first day and found the condenser completely iced over and began thawing.