I recommend spending a little extra money and pay to have trade specific people inspect the property too, not just an inspector.

This move would allow you to keep that long-term asset while using the equity to grow your portfolio—maybe even in a neighboring market.Selling (or Wholesaling):If you decide to sell, keep in mind that closing costs, real estate fees, and possible taxes could eat into your potential profit.

In terms of financing, one thing that might be worth exploring is connecting with local banks or credit unions that are more familiar with the market in Ohio-they often offer more flexible terms compared to larger national lenders.PS: Here’s an interesting tidbit-Ohio has one of the lowest property tax rates in the country, making it even more attractive for real estate investors.

Open to out of state investing - consider buying near some of the larger military bases and take advantage of military personnel utilizing their housing allotment to pay rent. 

Is your DSCR ratio greater than 1-meaning are you cash flowing (according to the lender's criteria of mortgage, property taxes and insurance (and HOA) if applicable).

Bonus depreciation is just a special part of the US tax code.It allows you to take accelerated depreciation on portions of your property depending on when an asset is put into service.At the time of this writing, you can write off a huge portion (60% in 2024) of many qualified components that have a useful lifespan of 15 years or less.That means a certain percentage of things like landscaping, sidewalks, latches, appliances, fences, certain flooring, etc is depreciable in year 1.The bonus depreciation rate percentage changes yearly depending on the administration and the tax code.For years 2015 through 2017 first-year depreciation for all the items on a 15-year schedule or less was set to 50%.It was scheduled to go down to 40% in 2018 and 30% in 2019 and then 0% in 2020.But then Trump got elected, and he enacted the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.That moved the bonus depreciation percentage to 100% from 2017 to 2022.In 2023 it went down to 80% and it’s currently at 60%.Depending on who gets elected again, 100% may be back on the table.Only time will tell.We know that the US government wants to incentivize more development and ownership of RE.They want Americans to continue to build and maintain our physical world.That’s why real estate is one of the most tax-advantaged assets in the US.Depreciation and bonus depreciation for RE are very positive and will likely continue in the years ahead.

You are asking about mortgage loan pay-down.

I was recently laid off and have accumulated about $20,000 in credit card debt, primarily from paying last year's property taxes and covering a few months of living expenses.

When it comes to paying listing agent/broker is there anything in writing stating the tenant will pay them?

We pay for this software already and were considering using them instead of tracking on excel sheets.