Under current rules, NOLs can only be carried forward indefinitely (not carried back).Losses from stocks (Schedule D/Form 8949) follow different rules and cannot be mixed with Section 1231 losses.

i am a reo broker here in south florida and work with many current asset managers and several banks. we sell many reo properties. some of those lists floating around out there are dead end streets as so many bomb bard the asset managers with requests they dont even reply 1

Which will probably wind up in the stock market.  

At least you won't have to stock the whole place.

Well....should you invest in a city where the people elected a woman with foreclosures, liens, judgements, garnishments, ethical violations from the state ethics board,  misused a city credit card, went three years arrears on her federal taxes all while yelling for other people to pay "  their fair share, " left skeletonized dead bodies hanging over Canal St for months on end covered only by a tarp until the wind blew it off to reveal to our horror her blatant disrespect for human dignity?

To do that, I was intending to sell some stock (75k to completely pay of home 1). 

One day, I noted that the company stock had fallen from $96 down to $0.48. 

There are many similar suburbs along the 270 corridor in North County that would probably have similar housing stock though you may need to look a little east (toward downtown) to find the inventory. 

Assuming that a new construction home will appreciate 5% just because that's the average for the market can be dead wrong!

In other words, if one property requires a major repair, reserves from other properties can help cover the expense, reducing the need for each individual property to have a fully stocked reserve at all times.