You will also want to be sure to keep your eyes and ears open to the possible tax benefits of investing in RE.

"Commercial" is meaningless for taxes.

Is your DSCR ratio greater than 1-meaning are you cash flowing (according to the lender's criteria of mortgage, property taxes and insurance (and HOA) if applicable).

It's pointless→ I want to evaluate how the property is performing NOW→ Where it COULD BE performing→ And WHAT it will take to get there.This involves (at a minimum) checking comps, creating a 5 year proforma, verifying taxes & insurance, and making assumptions about the business plan.You can't determine if a deal is a pass/go simply from NOI / Cap Rate.The art of underwriting involves finding value where others miss.If you're passing on deals just from dividing the in-place NOI by a cap rate, send those over here!

I honestly belief that investors should stop looking for specic catagoeries/situations of people to find houses to buy, and instead focus on motivation (regardless is their house is vacant, tax liened, foreclosure etc. etc.)Do you really care that you get a vacant house deal, or do you care that you find a high profit deal regardless whether it is a vacant house or not?

Do they include property tax and estimated income tax from the projected profit?

As to the issue of captive insurance subs, I worked in the accounting department of a small insurance carrier, set up primarily as a tax shelter.

I get great tax benefits.

We are currently looking for a real estate investor CPA to assist us with tax filing and tax strategies throughout the year.

I furthered my education by reading "Writing Winning Business Plans" by Garrett Sutton, "Tax-Free Wealth" by Tom Wheelwright, and, naturally, "The Book on Rental Property Investing" by Brandon Turner.