Hi, pre foreclosure in all of its permutations, before the bank sends Notice of Default (NOD) or efter which is state even county dependant but often starts a 4 week clock till the trustee auction are the 2nd most difficult deal scenario and IMHO only experienced investors should bother, the 1st most difficult deal scenario are bidding at the court house steps on lord only knows what is being auctioned off sometimes even 2nd mortgages, you need to do so much home work to attempt to reduce your risk at the court house steps...Pre foreclosure no one talks about these issues, always about the nice sounding stuff like "motivated seller" get a good deal etc etc both are usually not the case.- 95% of folks in pre or post NOD want to stay in their house, keep their house inspite of them 100% will loose the house at the auction. 

Here’s a streamlined perspective:Your current approach, putting more down upfront, minimizes risk, increases cash flow faster, and allows you to build equity while reducing overall interest.

Quote from @Aaron Zimmerman: I would look for other ways to legally reduce income such as cost segregation studies.

. $360k equity (based on your estimated loan balance and estimated transaction costs if you sold, this is not calculating capital gains taxes but that would reduce your equity down to about $310k if you sold without doing a 1031 exchange). $8k cash flow (this will increase over time because you are in an appreciation market). $6k principal pay down (based on your current loan). $20k appreciation (based on 3% which is conservative, 4-5% is the historical average).

I have great tenants but my property taxes have increased significantly so my net cash flow each month is reduced.

Would encouraging longer stays realistically help reduce this, especially for a medium-sized cabin?

That’s half the cost of Prime’s reduced rate.2nd, like everyone is saying, the cost of setting up and LLC is less than $100… closer to $50… if you just do it yourself through the state (not complicated).3rd, if you want someone to help you draft your operating agreement, hire a local real estate attorney and it will be significantly cheaper than $1660… probably cheaper than $550.4th, if you want someone to do your taxes and help you get your max deductions - talk to a CPA who specializes in real estate and they can review your operating agreement to see if you’re setting yourself up properly, and they can do your regular taxes… and be cheaper than Prime. 5th, a separate CPA can work with you regularly to review your investments and strategies to determine good tax strategies as you look to execute any deals. 6th - don’t lock yourself into a crazy subscription model before you start making money!!!

Disallowed losses under wash sale rules increase the cost basis of replacement securities, potentially reducing future taxable gains.This post does not create a CPA-Client relationship.

Hey @Dalton Foote - I highly suggest  using a renovation loan and house hacking a multi-family if that is possible with your current life circumstances.The 203k and homestyle renovation loans are just amazing products and drastically help you reduce your risk, in my opinion, because you are able to leverage the cost of the entire renovation with such a low down payment loan.We work with a lot of clients who use these products in Chicago, and no matter what, in the long term, they gain great equity.If you aren't able to house hack - the process is essentially the same, but just with more money down with hard money or conventional construction loan.

I asked our manager about reducing the rent but he said we are asking a fair amount and we are getting lots of interest but a lot of cancellations, no shows, or people who don’t follow through with applying or don’t meet minimum credit score.