I m not an accountant but my understanding is that all costs prior to being available for rent go into the basis of the property and are not deductible.

Depending on the condition of the property it may not qualify for standard financing.

If the house with a one car garage recently sold for $110k, all other things being fairly equal, an appraiser might deduct $10k for the value of the garage and value your property at $100k. 

The most important parts of this business strategy are 1) Buying rent-ready homes in areas that will continuously filter in high quality tenants with little to no vacancy rate, 2) Having exceptional performance from property manager and, 3) Each home meet the standards set in place for purchaseIf anyone out there is interested in becoming a mentor and collegue of mine I'd reall appreciate it.

I am new on here and have placed a bid on a property, ( I am currently the highest bidder which I see really doesn't mean anything)  However, if I do get lucky and somehow win the bid, do they use a standard Florida Contract in which I have a certain amount of time to inspect?  

@Brandon HallDo you think it's worth it to leave a great local RE market(Atlanta) for a location that's much rougher(San Francisco) just for better non-RE career opportunities, and standard of living?

(if you can't take a slight loss find every deduction you can in the book and record the items and then sell the property to lower your taxable liability.)Then take those proceeds and use it to pay off the other 2 properties!

I know the standard is first, last and security deposit.  

But the standard is that closings are done by attorneys.And ALWAYS get title insurance!!!

You should have a minimum square footage of home (and possibly a max), minimum bed/bath count, location specifics (can be multiple locations), type of properties (standard sale, REO, short sale, probate, etc - I go after them all), and your price point of $250k should have a specific range, for example $100k - $300k.