.- water efficient heads- Chicago controls thermostats- coin op laundry was our move this year- big ticket item but I am still a kid when I empty the quarters 👍 - make room for parking on the property- additional $- turn the boiler down.

I would do a traditional loan before I did a balloon especially after 5 years.

I need broker who is willing to have investor-agents and does not require traditional buyer/seller agent transactions.Any suggestions appreciated.Tommy

@Mathew Zorn if you are looking at buy and hold a traditional mortgage would be the way to go, but I'm not clear on what type of investing you are trying to do.

I invested as a passive in one MF syndication using my IRA, a traditional IRA. 

@Rupert GrantGenerally if you're eligible for a Solo 401k, it makes sense compared to a self-directed IRA for many reasons: Compared to an IRA, Solo 401k contributions limits are roughly ten times higher.There is no custodial requirement for the 401k.You don't need the additional expense and administration of an LLC to have checkbook control.You can borrow up to $50k from the plan; IRAs do not allow participant loansThere is a built in-Roth component whereas IRAs are either traditional or Roth, not both.A spouse can also participate in the same Solo 401k plan.The Solo 401k has additional tax benefits over an IRA when investing into real estate using leverage.The penalties for prohibited transactions are less severe, though it's best not to utilize this benefit :)The one exception I can think of is if your primary goal is to self-directed Roth IRA funds.

Fix items quickly when a tenant let's you know something is broke.

A charitable donation deduction will be limited to 50% of your adjusted gross income or less and the relative tax benefit will also be affected by the amounts of other itemized deductions you claim.

Is most of your financing coming through traditional lending thus far?

Traditionally your agent will no longer submit an offer as they would not get paid, but you can technically submit an offer on anything, it just might get thrown in the garbage