If you take that focus off the table and understand this is a very complicated business that tends to be really lucrative over the long game, you will be ok.

I've found that CPAs that focus on a niche area such as real estate rather than offering general services to everyone are typically much more knowledgeable about real estate tax incentives.

Here are some of the more longstanding discussions that may help to answer your questions.Specifically at Rent To Retirement, we operate a turnkey marketplace that focuses about 90% on A class, new construction properties located in growth markets.

Stay focused.4.Master your market.

If I pay it off, I could maximize cash flow earlier, reducing financial stress and allowing me to focus on other ventures or simply enjoy life more.On the other hand, I know some people advocate for keeping cheap debt and using the extra cash to invest elsewhere for potentially higher returns.Why I’m leaning toward paying it off:Security: No debt = peace of mind.Financial freedom earlier: A fully paid-off rental would give me a significant monthly cash flow?

Also, focus on 2 years of job/income stability.Class D Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, all cashflow with little, maybe even negative, relative rent & value appreciationVacancy Est: 20%+ should be used to cover nonpayment, evictions & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores under 560 (almost 30% probability of default), little to no good tradelines, lots of collections & chargeoffs, recent evictions.

For those that do not feel comfortable enough with excel to build out a tool on your own, I would suggest starting by taking excel courses focused on dynamic real estate modeling.

It could also help you to decide what type of real estate you would like to focus on - i.e., residential vs. commercial. 

Also keep in mind all those that equate this to buying a rental house are very focused on one thing and that is being a landlord and being landlord and buying rentals basically takes no special talent or knowledge other than basic math and ability to buy one.. 

I asked him a lot of questions about the business and as soon as I got home I was doing research and joining RE forums focused on multi family.