Power washed and painted exterior, removed trees, new windows, painted front door, updated garage door and back door, added door entry from garage into house, new paint throughout the house, renovated 2 bathrooms (one of these bathrooms was a 1/2 bath that we converted into a full bath by combining the adjoining closet and rerouting the plumbing), added a kitchenette/kitchen in the basement.

Purchase price: $2,450,000 Cash invested: $425,000 •21 unit apartment building •Complete cosmetic remodel•Scope: Converted a maintenance room to a one bedroom unit bringing the total units in the building to 22.

What I do is, if it's going to be a while before the new tenant can move in, is have them sign a rental holding agreement and pay a non-refundable holding fee that later converts to their security deposit only after they sign the lease, pay the first month rent, and start all utilities in their name. 

Is there a way to avoid taking a 24% hit when converting?

I often look for 2/1 properties with unfinished basements that I can convert into 3/2s. 

@Dan Palumbo I'm not an expert on this scenario but I'm sure you would have less issue than if your were going the other way--i.e. converting single family to  duplex.

You would have to convert your 401k into self-directed IRA (SDIRA). 

So I wasn’t sure if it would be a flip or rental, but from driving the house I could see the garage had been converted to living space.  

We currently live in a 1250sqft 3bd 2 bath bungalow with basement and double garage. It’s come time to upgrade and rather than sell which will cost quite a bit I’d like to rent it out. Here’s my initial breakdown:$129...

@Michael HarrisIf you have already have a loan on the property; you may have to find out if the mortgage becomes due when convert from personal name to trust or LLC.If you purchased the property recently; keep in mind the owners title policy gets voided in most cases; when perform QCD.For single member LLC you can do pass through as single member LLC is part of regular tax returns.