.** You should also look into any potential property tax increases associated with this change.

Used to be about $1,300/month, but after the hurricane, insurance has doubled and property taxes have taken a dent on that.

Wanting to move these properties into an LLC but I find out we have to pay taxes (7%) on the transfer equivalent to the mortgage balance.

I am really trying to figure out how to put in a bid on the Baltimore City tax sale (coming up in May).

Thanks to the Cost Segregation Study, the property investors accelerated the depreciation that the first year depreciation was approximately $1,629,844.Through the cost segregation study, they were able to reclassify approximately $2M to a 5 year useful life, $2.35M to a 15 year useful life.The use of the accelerated depreciation strategy helps real estate investors to reduce the tax liability immediately which therefore increases their bottom line due to the offsetting of income.

I just sold a spec, I built a house for my self last year and finished a spec this year, I bough the lots at tax sale, and I was the GC, HVAC, Tile, Flooring, Cabinet, Painter, and Misc. guy, made a nice profit, but the crappy part is taxes, its like a flip, short term gains. good luck!

When investing in real estate, don't overlook local and state taxes.

Look at your monthly payment (PITI = Principal,Interest, Taxes, Insurance) + HOA + (other maintenance fees if any) and if this amount is less than what you charge for rent (whether its Long, Mid, or Short Term rentals) and you are happy with the positive cash flow, then yes.Or maybe you're breaking even with the condo but you have  knowledge that the condo will explode in value due to some business/attraction/law/policy that will prop-up the sales price in the near future, then yes.Really, it boils down to what your goals are for this first investment.

In general, expenses related to the purchase or improvement of a rental property can be deductible, but the treatment of these expenses may vary depending on the nature of the expense and applicable tax laws. 

But one undeniable benefit of house-hacking is to ability to reduce w2 taxes for primary residence with interest rate payments.