HiI was looking at some AL properties on RTR websites in Montevallo/Birmingham area which look good on paper; $260K-$270K range and close to $350/month cash flow after PM fee.

In additional to conducting educational workshops, I also write blogposts for their websites.

Most people who buy in Costa Rica do it for lifestyle and they might rent (or not) to cover the cost and maybe make a little profit.Unless mentioned otherwise, when responding on that topic I know or I have assumed that people are potentially interested in an investment property, not a lifestyle property because this is an "investment" website and people talk about STR.

If you go to your counties property appraiser website, you can find the process and forms.

@Matthew McCarty At the beginning of my investing career, I was constantly looking at websites like Zillow and Redfin to see what houses are selling for so that I have a good feeling on the market I picked.

I go to e invelo website and I have to sign up and pay again?

By searching for and discovering active Facebook pages, Instagram feeds, and Twitter feeds, you’ll connect with active investors and real estate agents that you never would have known otherwise.Run Facebook Ads and Promoted PostsFacebook is one of the most powerful websites in the world.

(MLS/Realtor.com is propogated to more than 30 other websites.)David KrulacBigger Pockets Podcast #82  

I'm not sure if we can like to articles on our own websites here, so to be safe I'll just suggest the IRS web page, which does do a pretty good job of explaining the basics: https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc510The main thing to know if you're going to claim business miles is that you do need to keep a log of every business trip. 

At the same time though, if you are the one who walked into the store and tried on the clothes and asked the sales clerk how it looks, then your asking to be influenced. if you spend time on a real estate investing website where people are in the business of investing in real estate and you ask if you should invest, you will likely get a lot of responses that say you should invest in real estate and let me help you for a fee.