But it is likely necessary to be ultra successful.

I am an ultra conservative investor and really only take the “once in a lifetime” deals.

as a new agent you need to decide where you will hang your license,(broker), you dont work on your own, part of the idea is than an experienced agent will over see you and help you work,there are many companies out there, interview with a few, let them talk, most would rather hear themselves anyway, steer clear of more independents that boast letting you keep more, not for newbees, i started out with national chains till going to remax after many years, the chains will will have additional training for you, I also mentored two other agents after hitting elite status on nationals, be ready to give some of commission for mentoring, dont volunteer it up front, you will have many fees to pay starting out, sometimes you can also be an assistant to a major agent too, you will list thru a multiple listing service that other agents used to find houses, public too, they cost also for membership, on your own you cant list on craigs and do open houses, there are some who only list and some who only sell, and some inbetween, if you are lucky enough to get both sides, suggest you get someone else to take buyers side for transaction if you have iron clad relationship, or stay neutral, some list only to take buyers elsewhere, one house one sale, one house many buyers, what ever you do stay intouch with listings, plus with national agency lots of experience, lots of ads, national website, referrals,traing avail if you got in this to work from home and make a large commission right away you got sold, fees will eat you up, sales take time, money and experience, some get in it to buy their own, that is an option too, do lots of phone time, stay friendly with all in office, avoid politics of all kinds, do rentals to pay the fees, they can  turn into buyers, expect to make first listing within 3-6 months, sale 6 months, till up to speed, my standard was 2 of each a month, some more some less depend on season, can tell you stories.... doing floor time once had buyer walk in, said wanted to spend no more than 2, turns out was million, no one wanted to do floor time, also my first listing was a real frank loyd wright home, other agents would me give their rental lookers, be willing for all, I worked in area of NJ where a famous golf course is, was one of few that belonged to all 3 mls, so had advantage, a $1500 corp rental relocation will some day buy, get to know the relo person, we used to give nice gifts to clients, make it something they will see everyday not flowers or candy

From my experiences I've had two types of investor clients.Those who are backing out of deals and want to remain completely liquid.Those who have become ultra aggressive, making more offers than normal.The fact that so many investors on both the buy and sell side are backing away mean there is a lot less competition for the aggressive buyers.

This home boasts 5 bedrooms with 2 full baths and 2 half baths!

You're also right a deduction is typically only a benefit to the extent of your marginal tax rate.Lots of folks (chuckleheads for the most part who are usually the most uninformed) like to boast about taxes it apparently makes them feel important.

As I mentioned in another thread- I was in the hardware store 2 days ago and I listened to a restaurant owner boast about the profit he made in March and looking forward to April.

I would caution you against coming to a forum and boasting on the numbers with your full name

Some are already dropping rates and worried that people are going to stay home or that the festivals will be cancelled like what was done with Ultra and South by Southwest.

When running the numbers on this property it is listed as a 2/1 with over 1,100 square feet so i know we can create an other bedroom during the rehab converting this into a 3/1 the comps i have ran actually valued this home at around 150k-160k (two property's sold at 160k in the last 6 months)  i was being ultra conservative on the 135k ARV running this report.So 15k return is my worse case. i am wanting to make it a habit to be conservative with my numbers.