To my great surprise, this was not the case.Additionally, the estimate for my tax preparation for this year was approximately $1,000 over the cost I paid last year (including the time I paid for them to correct their errors).

@Alec DresslerYou’re on the right track using tools like AirDNA, but for better data, consider the paid version or platforms like Mashvisor for detailed rental analytics.

It was probably the most expensive Q&A we have ever paid for.

Let's look at your example of a roofer, assuming he owns the company.He has to pay for employees- they still get paid, even if they are not giving 100% effort.He has to pay his workers to go back for warranty work - effectively paying them to do the same job twice.He has to pay for equipment, even when it's not being used 100% of the time.- but the company he bought it from still gets paid.He has to pay for advertising, whether it works or not.- but the advertising company still gets paid.He has to pay for accounting services, payroll services, tax services, legal services, etc.- they all get paid whether he makes money or not.So, what's your point?

Then I paid for a consultation with one of their attorneys and it was very helpful and he suggested to keep it simple.

However, members can invite guests to attend certain paid events so the guests don’t have to pay.I also attend the San Antonio REIA (SAREIA) lunch events.

The problem with that is that now you're no longer tracking what you've paid to actual vendors, so you lose the ability to issue 1099's and know what you've paid who at the end of the year.  

What you paid for it and invested in its upkeep are not factors for pricing/selling a property. 

We already paid them a pretty sizeable entry fee ($30k) to cover some of their equity and debt in another project.

Interestingly, I saw a paid ad for their inner circle training program on my FB feed just yesterday.