Probably your best bet for cash flow here as a few clients of mine own them and do ok, but its a challenge dealing with that type of tenant and might not be the best first investment property idea..  

Putting money into unique properties is also more risky.

For those who already have someone working for them what did you find to be the challenge when training someone to take the job serious if working from home.

What are the risks and challenges do you see?

While the city council’s societal heart may be in the right place (for the tenants getting priced out of the Seattle) the onslaught of recent ordinances (1st in time application - challenged and overturned in Court, limits on move-in costs / pet fees, no criminal checks, etc.) these have in many cases encroached and/or completely ignored landlord/property owner rights and create such complex regulations that it is in many cases not feasible or cost effective for small mom & pops to manage their own properties, so they reach out to pros and pass the costs along to the tenants.

The market here is quite unique compared to the rest of the nation, and even to the rest of California for that matter. 

I guess my question to the group is have you syndicated in the past and with your first deal where did you find the greatest challenge?

When first starting out do not do anything unique or different than what is average.

Those are just the safe harbors; you can try to take the deduction without use of the safe harbors but the IRS may challenge it.With the "in service rules" you need to have the property "in service" in order to take any deductions. 

And as I suggested in my post above it was in the more challenging area of South Shore around 79th St.