I would love to know how many folks on BP have been in real estate more than 10 years.Check out this interesting chart 

By doing this, you'll be able to ask more specific questions and get more precise advise on what to do when it comes to a flip.

Once a week I export the data into excel and update all my pivot tables & charts. 

Determining the exact economic impact down to the $ will never be a precise calculation i.e. economic models give you a range but not a precise answer.

Thanks Costin for the pointer to the book (and the flow chart).To answer you Q's: I manage my properties myself.A couple of follow-on Q's: a) Can you elaborate on "you guys in CA are different kind of special"?

The numbers are off the charts.  7)  Income tax - The city punishes those that liive in the city with a 1.25% income tax. 

Add that as another column to your chart. 

Get precise and accurate on repair costs.  

Appendix A chart 2 tells you how to fill form 4562.

Sure, you can spend days drawing lines that connect boxes on some Donald Trump level real estate empire org chart in an effort to gain anonymity and avoid liability, but, at the end of the day, what protects business owners is adequate insurance and acting intelligently."