I partnered with a friend on this deal, he put up $20k and his contractor knowledge and I the rest of the money to complete the work.

I also updated our initial contact letter to explain that it's in their best interest for us to do the pre-qualification so inquiries don't waste time or money driving out to the property and/or completing an application when they won't qualify anyway.

Purchase price: $240,000 Cash invested: $60,000 purchased this distressed duplex using owner financing for $240K and a $60K hard money loan for renovations.

For example, if I send my son money for books, can I do so as a property manager fee so that this is also tax deductible.4) If my son, finds the monthly payment to be to much while he is in school and I end up shouldering some of the costs, how long per IRS rules can I carry a loss on the property.Any help would be greatly appreciated.Thank you.

(cost of buy-down in dollars / monthly savings vs the free loan = # of months it would take to recoup the money spent). will you keep the LOAN at least that long?

The biggest question you need to ask yourself is if you are doing this to afford a property you otherwise couldn’t afford or to save money period, that will lead to very different conclusions about where/if to buy. 

Pretty easy to make 2% or more when you're spending that kind of money.

Again, I used my parents but this time only as lenders of part of the money for the down payment.

Hard Money How did you add value to the deal?

Penalties of these Federal charges may include:30 years in prisonUp to $1 million in finesThey have a "statute of limitations" - (with a third "T"  ;-) of 10 years from the date of the transaction - 10 years from now, you could get a very nasty call and hopefully, you put your reserve money in a good account that grew to cover legal expenses**********************************************And the universe could blow up as Doc says in Back to the Future " But, granted, that's the worse case scenario."