If the market average is 20, my PM averages 40, then my vacancy loss is DOUBLE the average.

And what happens if you suck at real estate investing and you have to unload the investment property at a loss?

At the end profit/loss will determine if the plan is working.

My policy is: late fee on 5th, file 3-day on the 11th, and try to evict within 30 days to reduce losses.

I really wanted to hold onto it because of California appreciation but I cut my losses - Oakland and Berkeley heavily favor tenants and a non-paying tenant can live there for months and it's a nightmare to evict them. 

@Adam David GraningNobody yet pointed out this critical caveat: even if the property is placed in service by 12/31, you will likely need to pass "material participation" test in order to benefit from your losses.

This is a direct quote from PRnewswire: ‘The complaint filed alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants failed to disclose to investors that: (1) the algorithm used by the Company to make offers for homes could not accurately adjust to changing house prices across different market conditions and economic cycles; (2) as a result, the Company was at an increased risk of sustaining significant and repeated losses due to residential real estate pricing fluctuations; (3) accordingly, Defendants overstated the purported benefits and competitive advantages of the algorithm; and (5) as a result, Defendants' positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.’

I do agree with the fact that I shouldn’t look at this as a loss, because for the year that the tenant was there, I got a lot of principal paid versus interest so that’s a really good point.

I am interested in having a long term investment, I may be breaking even or have a slight loss depending on the rent but I consider having an asset paid off a win.

So making sure, I nail it, I wanted to reach out to the community to see what data I should request to make sure I come up with my NOI  to properly calculate my CAP RATE...This to request:Income+Rent Roll +Leases  ( When under contract)+Tenant Estoppel Form (While under contract)Expenses(They sent me Profit andd Loss Statement) I asked for an expense report but they manage there on properties and Im questioning the expense report they sent.....