Here's a link to the IRS that discusses real estate basis http://www.irs.gov/publications/p551/ar02.html#en_US_2010_publink1000256941

No, I did not inquire about the small print as I don't invest in retail space.

Get good online presence including beighborhood message boards, book exchanges, public art, parks, clean up crews, neighborhood watch, dog walking clubs.

The problem I see for you is that you posted the following on a public Internet forum:How does flipping a FHA home after 90days work?

It depends on what the tenant base is.Efficiencies and one units have a bunch of negatives.Turnover and reconditioning cost is high.Lenders upon refinance also do not like 100% 1 unit buildings.So it can be hard getting cash out after rehab with that unit mix.Also what happens is usually if someone fall son hard times with a2 bed they can get a roomate and stay.If the girlfriend gets pregnant they can convert the second bedroom that was an office back into a bedroom.If the girlfriend of wife gets pregnant a second time they can take the 1 bedroom and take out the one bed and put a bunk bed in.With 1 units unless it is an abnormally large space for a 1 bedroom most tenants will move to a 2 bedroom.I personally like 2 bedrooms unless you are talking college dorms or seniors that need a 1 bed or studio space.

Depending on your locale, I'd demand one that will go into crawl spaces and into attics.

They promote it in a couple of magazines and online spaces as well and every couple of days I get an email as I am sure they are sending everyone on how great the program is (complete with balloons and confetti)!

if i have the space and opening, i always provide DW. most people these days are coming from their homes, where they HAD a DW. cant tell u how many times i have heard "i will not rent a house that has no DW". and besides, it's $280. come on, that's cheap.GD - i always add it. it costs me $85 and takes 30 mins. i get the loud ones so they dont forget to turn it off.

After the house sells, look in the public records to see who purchased.

Jon -While I agree that for most people in most situations, a house is *NOT* an investment, I also think that that your analysis above for the value of a low-interest loan is actually a great argument for why more people *SHOULD* be buying homes and taking out a loan.While not everyone will be able to take the money and generate a significant enough return that the result will be substantially beneficial, there are a lot of people (like most of us here on BP) that have the right mentality to make that achievable.Again, for the general public that has little expertise, interest or experience with investing, I completely agree with you.