the difficult thing about NY is that (as you probably know) there are very few properties that generate cash flow unless you have a substantial downpayment.

Most investors who commented seemed to agree with me, but the appraisers beat me down pretty hard, basically saying that all that matters are the comps and trying to influence the appraisal by being nice to the appraiser is unethical and won't work with good appraisers.Well, I will stick by my opinion that it's more than just comps.

Capital Improvements: Expenses maintain the working order of somethingCapital improvements increase the life, upgrade or substantially improve the property.A replaced leaking pipe is an expense.

Are there any Government communication (say from DoL or IRS) or court rulings which substantiate that those activities are on the safe side of the line?

If your market has a population of say 500,000, obviously there will be more life events that influences that market.

This money is disposable.The ernest money deposit is typically going to be the substantially larger sum of money which is made non-refundable after a specific set of contract clauses (inspection period included) expire.

Thanks Leslie, I just downloaded it.Lonnie's book, Deals on Wheels was one that influenced me a lot as I was considering going into real estate seriously.

If you have a substantial amount in the bank then a statement will also help.

That could be what you ideally want to use as it has substantial benefits for purposes of gifting.

Besides, 52k in this example is very substantial cash flow at the end of the day.