As a tax pro this is a weird take to me. 

Unfortunately, he got behind on property taxes and was struggling to keep up with maintenance, so the place was in rough shape.

The PM change the electric utility to the PM's name.

Assuming this is an 8 cap neighborhood you'd have a ~$420-450k value within a year (unless property taxes are crazy high) when leases would renew since it'd be valued as a commercial building with the office space.

If your brother is looking to invest in real estate largely from a tax reduction standpoint they should pay a qualified real estate tax strategist to review their specific situation and what may or may not work for them. 

We affirmed the absolute rights, set forth in your State’s LLC Law, for ANY Member to request copies of the three most recent years Federal and State tax returns issued by the LLC. 

While not as widely discussed as interest rates, capital gains taxes also impact home sales.

If you haven't yet found a CPA or tax professional to help you save on your tax bill each year, would you want BP to help recommend a tax professional for you? 

hi all i am a new landlord and got my first rental property. tenants moved in in September and October. the first month was fine but when December hit it got extremely cold and the heating is electric. due to poor insulation in the home that we did not know about the heat has to be turned very high up to keep the home warm, however since everything is electric it is causing the electric bill to be $800. the utilities are the tenants responsibility. however because of this one of the tenants has been extremely non compliant with paying rent.

., mortgage interest, taxes, repairs, depreciation) on Schedule E starting when the property is placed in service.