The miles between work and properties are deductible.

You can usually add earthquake coverage later on as well with a 30 day waiting period, and with other rules and limitations (you'll definitely want to check the insurance quote for deductible and if brick/stone or brick/stone veneer are covered as well).

What about charging a repair deductible in your lease is illegal?

Further, when it comes to one's primary residence, the Seller(s) can deduct $250,000 if single and $500,000 if married.

By deducting this, you can see what you're getting for putting your money into it (as compared to mutual fund, C D, etc.) without deducting it, you only see what your return is for both putting your money in AND putting your time in. 8% vacancy.

I keep hearing/reading about people that are not paying taxes on their rental income because they can offset it with deductions.

LLC gives you tax advantages if you set it up correctly and have a great CPA ... then your umbrella policy is tax deductible to the LLC as a business expense, along with your mileage, bills, your triple whip soy latte and many other things.

Dec 2015 - Jan 1015, can this be deducted rather than depreciated at 27.5 years?  

While these investors are on the right track, they habitually miss deductions that a CPA would have caught.

Up til now, I have been a "by the numbers" sort of taxpayer, no deductions or fancy paperwork.