Also is there anyone who uses bill paying software to allow their tenants to pay the rent online?

I managed the rentals myself up until early this year when I hired a property management firm in order to get some free time back, have some backup so I can go on vacations again,  and in response to the hostile political environment towards landlords in seattle.My long term plan with REI is to get to a large enough door count such that with sufficient equity the net cash flow is enough to live on comfortably  (which I would define as matching my current gross software engineer's salary).    

Current rents: you can glean this information through online sources as well as old-school searching (walk-ins, calling the buildings)Talk to local brokers to get the inside scoopMarket analysisCheck to see if building is in a flood plainYou can ask for, but these items are usually provided after signing a contract: Leases for lease auditing against bank statements, tax returns and leases (usually not provided before a contract has been signed).Tenant payment historyViolations, delinquenciesLease addendum and/or other agreementsTax ReturnsBank StatementsUtility billsCan RUBS be implemented (some municipalities may not allow it)Service contractsReserve fundsEnvironmental assessmentEmployee recordsStructural issues including foundationEmployee historyOther value-add features that can be added include:Trash valetCar portsStorageDog parksTo be honest, a similar level of due diligence is required across multifamily and manufactured housing (mobile home parks).Best of luck!

Please if anyone has built out something like this or has software company info would helpTHanks 

In hearing the requirement for the HUD FHA, I don't think that's a loan we would be interested in looking at given the higher reserves, requirement for audits and necessary approvals on distributions from the ownership entity.

The safe harbor applies to amounts paid during the tax year to acquire or produce what the regs call a “unit of property” (UOP), you must meet these requirements: (1) at the beginning of the tax year, the taxpayer has written accounting procedures treating as an expense for non-tax purposes amounts paid for property costing less than a specified dollar amount (which will be 2500 for you), or with an economic useful life of 12 months or less;.(2) the taxpayer treats the amount paid for the property as an expense on its books and records in accordance with its accounting procedures. ( do this on your bookkeeping software or whatever you utilize)(3) the amount paid for the UOP doesn't exceed $2,500. as substantiated by invoice.Note: The cost for the Unit of Property includes additional costs (for example, delivery fees, installation services, or similar costs) if these additional costs are included on the same invoice with the tangible property.Eg:A purchases 100 printers at $500 each for a total cost of $500,000 as indicated by the invoice.

As mentioned above, QuickBooks online is the go-to software for expense tracking.

If you are ever audited, all you need to show is proof of your payment and proof that you were liable for it (invoice + proof of partial ownership.)

LLC works well with my real estate software company and my investment company.

Here is a bay area software company laying off 1150 people http://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Autode...Brick and mortar retail looks to be suffering too as more people shop online.