That being said, I do understand that leverage is a valuable tool in REI and from a purely numbers perspective it makes sense, especially with the incredibly low interest rates available today.

---We're not perfect and some of our ServiceTechs occasionally forget, phone batteries die, or they take worthless pics, or like with a sewer snaking sometimes nothing is pulled out, but we deliver at least 95% of the time.Regardless, you should automatically be receiving an invoice with a decent description of the work performed.

If you answer no to all of the above, then what you saw is purely speculative.

Commissions are purely fee based.Secondly, our profit is NOT paid by the seller directly since they are underwater.

And from an accounting perspective (I'm not a CPA), I see nothing wrong with it although I do understand how it could skew the 'pure' version of the 50% rule in a very small way.  

Rural Gaston operation centerpiece of Tesla dealGavin Stewart The Gaston GazetteA business partly based in Gaston County signed a major deal to mine for and sell lithium to Tesla, the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer.Piedmont Lithium, an Australian corporation whose North Carolina office is based in downtown Belmont, has drilled and explored a rural piece of land near Cherryville over the last few years.The company signed a binding agreement with Tesla this week to supply mineral concentrates, a source for lithium, for five years and extendable up to five more years.Tesla’s interest in the lithium -- furthermore, Gaston County -- comes from its ability to power the batteries of electric vehicles.The agreement begins once Piedmont Lithium delivers its first product to Tesla.

There is no such thing as double taxation with an S-Corp...an S-Corp is purely pass-through and the entity is not taxed under any situation.You are probably thinking of a C-Corp, which pays corporate tax on any profits and then can leave income in the company indefinitely (or distributed as a qualified capital gain to shareholders, which is the second tax).Btw, I flip out of C-Corp these days...there are good and bad in every entity structure...talk to a good tax professional/attorney to help you decide...

This needs to be a business decision pure and simple.

If so, how would you defend it - I've found those places are pure development/appreciation plays, and cover their expenses at best.  

A plumber can get you set up with new sump(s), perhaps even with a battery backup, just in case you lose power during a storm.Check the basement walls go buckling, then move ahead.