Also, they allowed me to put in way more money than I should have, being a nonaccredited investor. 

@Summer Shelton yes, FHA loans do allow this but make sure you speak with your lender about some of the trip ups from these loans.  

Also - lots of flippers allow their contractors to order materials but direct them to the supplier they want them ordered from! 

Other banks allowed us to do our own in house valuations.

It also allows the manager to work directly with the insurance company to resolve issues efficiently.In Texas, this is part of the standard Texas Board of Realtors Property Management Agreement and is considered an industry best practice.

. - When you go to qualify for your next proeprty, your lender can actually add losses from line 18 back into your income... allowing you to qualify for the next property.

My starting questions so far are* If zoning allows multi-family, would I need any zoning approvals for a conversion?

Selling sounds great on the surface, but then I would be entering that market looking for a "Deal". 

If you want to start a fix & flip business that allows for bigger returns but bigger risk, that's another. 

But the IRS allows this deduction to both of us, due to them taking shortcuts in their auditing process.