Property seems generally stable but owner lost his manager last year and he has health problems.Owner wants to carry paper but needs $100K down to cash out a $72K non assumable loan and $23K in back taxes (4 years). 

After MID, your carrying cost is even less.  

They are also new to this and ask if I will seller carry.  

The homes are listed through agents and they look at me like I have 4 heads when I mention seller financing  or owner will carry!

Can I carry all of this forward as start up costs for next year's taxes?

Hey Carrie,I don't have a personal plumber but I have used H-Jacks in the past and they have been good. http://www.hjacks.com/home/

I was thinking about leaving the 5 unit mortgage in place and having him carry back the rest and I make monthly payments to him until I can refinance and cash him out in a few years.

Items 1 and 2 above are much more significant when making determination if one should borrow from his/her 401k.Here is an example where it would make sense to take the loan out:Suppose you have some debt you are paying 15% interest on.

there will be many that live in each state.... turn key generally produce's a few of your trigger items not necessarily all of them though in one house.great houses and tenants usually equates to a smaller NET return... as your return goes up your sacrificing something.Unless of course you go the state your self source your deal do your own rehab and etc then those metrics are not to difficult.

Once you get that figured out, write down your qualifying criteria and what your "tie-breaker" item(s) is/are, and process your apps accordingly.