I can carry them forward, but it doesn't reduce my actual gross income.

Renovation costs are capitalized and added to the property’s basis, reducing taxable profit (sale price minus adjusted basis and selling expenses).

to me I view an inspection contingency as you do it and if something is wrong you present it to the seller and say "hey fix this, reduce the price OR if it was major and really bad just walk away".If no inspection was done, then its unethical but reality is its not worth a seller to sue over it.

or you can buy down your rate or pay points to reduce the interest rate as this is a commonly way to reduce your monthly PITIA payment. 

If you have a wider variety it will reduce the risk with your investment.

The reason to do so is not necessarily to reduce cost but to be efficient.

I'm going to reduce my rent by $100 as this ratio seems abysmal (quite literally a 0% ratio in view-to-application). 

Quote from @Irma Leibas: Quote from @Jaycee Greene: @Irma Leibas Many of my clients that do mid to heavy rehab projects have contractor credit cards from Home Depot or Lowe's, which reduces the amount of upfront capital needed for the rehab. 

If you're comfortable taking on more effort for bigger rewards, BRRRR might be the way to go.From a tax perspective, BRRRR may be better because you can potentially benefit from accelerated depreciation on the property, which can help reduce your taxable income and give you a bigger tax advantage compared to a turnkey property.

This is NOT passive, it requires you to create systems and deal with all the complexities that a business entails.Reasons to manage your own properties: 1.You are an effective manager and for the most part enjoy people. 2.You want to reduce vacancy and expenses (after the property has been repaired my vacancy rate is below 2%).3.You want to start your own business and instill a certain “culture” at your properties.