looks like it could be early stages of dry rot to me. 

Its in rehab stage now and if nothing else will make a decent SFR.Bob

Especially How much did the staging run?

April,To answer your question, if everything is in one legal entity you should have one company in QuickBooks and separate the properties using cost centers.  

newbie here too. just wished to introduce myself. formerly from washington, dc, i'm just getting started in the staging arena in california and i'm looking to make some connections as well. thanks and sincerely, sydney

So solve this by moving to towns up and down the freeways 45 min from the jobs center, where local investors aren't working.Stress;  Yes kents leads are all vacants.  

That's not a bad area you mentioned, very stable, but not growing either.I think you meant on Kansas Ave. not Expressway, but I did a deal at 650K on Kansas Ave just south of Grand, center of town, okay, it was a farm that had been there since the Civil War.....whatever, LOL :)   

During the renovation stage, I drive back and forth between home and property a few times a day; are those miles deductible?

So I'm in the beginning stages of becoming an investor.

Also, the following IRS website talks about self-employment. https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/self-employed-individuals-tax-center