A more accurate way to describe it is "I received no income" - because you can have deals but still have no profit if your expenses are greater than your income.If you were actively looking for deals (and can document it) - as opposed to merely planning to start later - then you file Schedule C and claim business expanses such as marketing, driving, technology and so on. 

There are a number of meetups in Sacramento and we have been coordinating the dates among hosts so that there is no overlap - I run the West Sacramento Meetup that @Ben Howard mentioned (we gather every 4th Tuesday of the month).Here is a list of meetups that we're in collaboration with (they are all based on an abundance mindset that we have here on BP)- 1st Tuesday - REI Connect @ Roseville Meetup (reach out to @Nicole Masters)- 3rd Tuesday - Investor Mixer @ Crawdads on the River- 3rd Thursday - Folsom Out of Bounds (dates may shift a bit)- 3rd or 4th Wednesday - Real Estate Round Table (CH Cafe & Grill) - they recently relaunched and stabilizing the schedule- 4th Tuesday - West Sacramento Real Estate MeetupI'm working on putting together an easy to access list that Sacramento investors can refer to.

Essentially, it was one account with the bank tracking individual tenant details on your behalf.That said, it’s critical to ensure your financial records remain accurate by reconciling the account on a monthly basis.

All the while, I'm sure they were assuring their investors that everything was going good (as they all do) but as I and others have noted, we give our recommendation to this company because their assurances that everything is going well.. is in fact accurate with this operator.Again, not sure if your beef is with BAM or syndication deals in general, but as I can see from this thread, you've been invited to reach out to investors that have invested with BAM and discuss... and you haven't so, @Marie B. take note of that and realize that some people are just haters.

However, that's only a rule of thumb because it isn't accurate!

The frameworks others have presented of viewing the site as a lead-generation tool where you, as the host, are handling all the payment processing and screening is pretty accurate. 

So yeah, your 20%+ is much more accurate. 

Also, they can penetrate neighbors' walls easier.  12 Gauges are just a lot scarier, more accurate within 10 to 20 yards- especially during times of stress, do more damage, plus less impact to neighbors.Will re-post some insurance and fire posts I already did for LA fires. 

It would be smart to do a full lease audit, estoppels issued, and tenant interviews.And if you are buying cash, there is nothing mandatory, since it is your money at risk. but again, physical condition inspections, understanding of tenants (they are a great source of information about issues with the property that the landlord may not know or may not disclose), surveys to understand accurate property lines, etc.

It might not be 100% accurate but it'll at least give you some directional data to use.