If they are offering you a product and cannot answer basic questions about it I want you to treat that as a "red flag". 

If you have one that really raises a stink then you're not treating everyone fairly.

You could pay for a company to treat and hope the integrity of your countertops is intact.

Me just emailing them a stock form isn't how I want to treat customers.

So really treat every client like they're your only client, establish that early on in your career and stick with that throughout your career, I don't care if you're doing 200 deals a year, all 200 of those clients should feel like they're your only client.Start on a team.

Every real estate property that is purchased with the intent as an investment(treated as a rental) will have some amount of depreciation.The amount of depreciation depends on the property purchased.Whether you can offset rental losses against your other income will depend on your tax profile.Best of luck!

I have agents who throw me business if they know it's something I do.You need to get on the phone with people and have that 20 min conversation that covers some business, some personal, some chit-chat and by the end of that if you've dealt with enough people you should have a decent feel for whom you're dealing with.I can say as a loan officer, I treat every loan like my life depends on it because I know if something goes wrong it is going to be on me whether it's my fault or not because I am the face to face with the borrower so any bad news is delivered through my lips. 

Your state/county/city may have specific guidance on how security deposits need to be treated (i.e. in a depository account earning interest etc). 

.  :-)To answer an earlier question from Amy and Cary, I am not treating this as a strict business deal. 

They still own their share of the property or its holding company.Usually refinance proceeds are treated as return of capital  (sponsors get nothing until all capital is returned to investors) or as profit distribution in which case sponsors receive their share that is spelt out in the OM.