At the time of the leak, my tenant was showering, but everything around the bathroom is sealed and in good condition.It’s been a week now, and there have been no further leaks.However, the owner of the apartment below is still asking me to repair their ceiling.

A HELOC will not allow you to deduct I believe on the interest unless the money is utilized for repairs on your primary residence and not to buy another home. 

Maybe have a decent sized pool of cash to take care of the occasional roof repair or personal expense, but almost entirely in real estate?

From everything I hear the costs exponentially grow when a PM hires out your repairs/maintenance compared to the cost of you source the work yourself.

Once you find a potential tenant, you have to go through a Housing Quality Standards (HQS) inspection, which can take a while and may require some repairs or tweaks to pass.

(Be sure to factor in vacancy, PM fees, maintenance, etc in addition to PITI)•Do you have additional reserves to cover unexpected expenses like long than expected vacancies, high turnover costs, or major repairs (e.g., HVAC or roof replacements)?

Apparently they handle all property repairs and maintenance independently and have maintained a perfect payment history, even throughout the pandemic.Lease Option Agreement:Effective Date: November 1, 2022Terms:Purchase Price: $165,000Non-Refundable Down Payment: $10,000Lease Term: 3 years (ends October 31, 2025)Final Payment: $158,000 balance due upon term completionMonthly Payment: $1,150 (no rent credits)I didn't see this to be a deal because if in a the best case scenario my $25000 would walk away with 2400 which is about a 9% ROI.

So far there is some indication of a little uptick for 2025 booking - I've already booked out a few weeks beyond the winter, which is when I go down and take care of maintenance and repairs - and in the summer, but traffic and inquiries are way, way down.If you feel like seeing a blood bath, just pull up the MLS and look at the Margaritaville development.

Add in property manager, repairs/maintenance, CapEx, vacancy etc and you will be deep in the red.

@Richard NguyenHere are some of the downsides of putting real estate into a self directed IRA or 401k.No tax deductions: You can’t claim deductions for property taxes, mortgage interest, depreciation, repairs, improvements and other property-related expenses.Property expenses: All expenses, repairs, and maintenance costs must be paid with IRA or 401k funds, and you must pay others to do repairs and manage the property.