The accountant would record it as of Jan and not Dec. 90% of the real estate investors are running cash-basis.

If the bank will call their note if you commit to the transfer you can also check out this article as one strategy that has been used to work around the issue.This is not legal advice, just my opinion as a real estate investor.

Real businesspeople and investors know you learn more from the losses than the wins and diligently try to figure out where they went wrong.

My advice would be is to talk to multiple investors who have real world, actual success-based experience in flipping over a sustained period.

Does anyone know of good real estate agents that are in Findlay Ohio and have experience and are investor-focused?

If I were you I wouldn't invest in real estate at all. 

I recommend researching the average appreciation over the past 10 years in your target area to get a clearer picture.As you know, in real estate, ROI comes from multiple sources: Home Appreciation:  Reno Appreciation: Value added through renovations or improvements (usually just in the first year).

And you can use that to calculate your tax hit.In order to defer all tax you must purchase at least as much investment real estate as your net sale using all of your net proceeds.

It is not real insurance, it doesn't cover things not caused by guests, and can't be depended on. 

Quote from @Jay Fayz: Hello everyone,I've recently been exploring real estate as a potential career path and I'm looking for advice on the best entry-level job to gain experience and knowledge.