Or even a deck or patio, you'll get a minor bump.

Which is, unfortunately, taxed as ordinary income.

How much leverage do you figure success real estate investors (as defined in my original post) employ -- more than the typical 5:1 or 4:1 that can be found in ordinary mortgages?

@Jeff Lee  BWW can get noisy but we sit on the patio and it wasn't bad last time except for some windy rain that blew in near the end.Besides, with friends as passionate about REI as @Michael Faulk is the music doesn't stand a chance.

It's really too close to the neighbor's and there isn't enough "patio" space to justify it.

As a rule any expense that is "ordinary and necessary" in your line of work is deductible.

I don't think anyone is going to have a wierder one than that.All my tenant requests have been ordinary stuff, nothing unusual at all.

None of the tenants have pets and there is only one smoker, who only smokes on the patio and his unit smells great!

I've used it on tile, cement slabs, patio rocks, and walls. 

Hi All-     I am in process of building a raised patio at my primary residence.