And if so, what is the cost and prospect for collecting something, certainly not all, but something.My thinking is that if it shows up on their credit, it may hamper employment, car purchases, rental applications, education funding, etc and at some point they would need to pay me to go forward with some major life steps over the next 10 years.Your time and money would be better spent updating your rent requirements to get better tenants, increasing deposits if allowed and proactively evicting tenants who are behind so you don't get back in a position where someone owes you a substantial amount of back rent. 

I believe that the current 2023 standard city of chicago lease from CAR allows the tenants to smoke inside the unit.

If you want to allow them access to your Internet, go ahead.

This is a business-purpose-only loan for real estate investors that allows you to use the projected rental income to qualify.

@Noa Zell, here's the actual language defining MR1 zoning:https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/los_angeles/latest/lap...I'd study this and see if any allowable use would generate more rental income than auto repair shops.

@Carl Carter in Michigan, real estate brokers are allowed to service up to 75 land contracts.So, you can also look for a property management company to do this:)

I was wondering if there are any deductions that I can take against my W-2 income, or if all deductions can only be taken against the rental property income?

I have never used, but the retail landlord I used to work for uses DashComm to allow their tenants to pay rent and report sales.https://www.phillipsedison.com/neighbors/dashcommAgain, this was not rolled out when I worked there many years ago, but I know a vast majority of their tenants have escalation clauses, NNN's, some properties have utility pass throughs that vary each month, etc.I will also say, for what it is worth, they had a full AR department that would mail out statements every month to every tenant.  

When conducting a BRRRR of a property that a bank only allows a commercial mortgage on (4+ units), the ways to add value are much more straightforward than a smaller multi-family.

First, the lender will probably be willing to allow the buyer to qualify for the mortgage, at a somewhat higher interest rate.