@Matthew Stoughton There is a BP Meetup sponsored by the wildly handsome and distinctly articulate @Phillip Dwyer in Henderson next week, 1-30-14, 7:00 PM at nacho Daddy's just off the 215 and Easter.

Donald on BiggerPockets, we're not politicians here.I happened to be of the opinion that interest earned by professional private lenders or hard money lenders is ordinary income for their lending businesses (as in "in the business of lending money"), as distinct from portfolio income on passive investments and casual loans.Eamonn - please correct me if I'm wrong and explain how would you classify the income and expenses of a HM lender, let's say operating as a partnership. 

What is Distinct About Sellers in these Areas, should anything be handled differently/specifically?

However, the distinction between rental properties and primary residences significantly impacts your taxes.

., all have very distinct issues that need to be addresses and resolved if the underlying investors want to go separate directions with different goals and objectives in the future (such as a 1031 Exchange). 

(The distinction is someone can say they don't have any pets....but guess what....they may have a "service animal").

So, a distinction should at least be understood that when a lender accepts payments from a buyer under an installment purchase agreement, that such acceptance is not a loan assumption per se, it is simply allowing a third party to make payments in the name of or for the benefit of the borrower but the loan remains in the original borrower's name, fully liable and without any requirement made by the lender to collect anything from that third party.So, as a new investor, when you walk into a bank and put your business plan on the loan officer's desk, look him in the eye and say, "I have a deal and I would like to assume theseller's loan" you'll at least know how silly you sound to the loan officer, what it is you are actually asking the bank to do!

I think you have two very distinct things going on here.. you have folks that have no real formal real estate training and they are simply investing in rentals.. and then someone like me who is in the business owned real estate companies owned mortgage companies own's a building company .. and HML company.. all related to real estate but not one dime comes from rental income..

@Linda Weygant @Kevin Coggins  when he mentions negative gearing that is a distinctly Australian term.. for whatever its worth you will not hear US investors mention that or even know what it means. internet is a wild thing.. when you can create all these persona's.

Today, it isn't as much anymore because Salaries have stagnated for about 30 or so years, especially if you look at Buying Power over the 3 decades.I want to make a distinction between PAID education and FREE education (or almost free).