The key part that I was unaware of are the overall rent caps, which obviously are well, well, well below market rents for the area (it's actually in Mtn Brook, but same applies for Homewood). 

The only way a developer makes money on them is through tax credits, which is something you have to apply for and you then take those tax credits and sell them off. 

So did you end up applying for the mortgage first or HELOC.

As @Steven Hamilton II points out - if you got insurance money, it was reimbursed - and therefore can't be claimed as a casualty loss deduction.If your casualty happened in a federally declared disaster area you can apply the casualty loss to the previous year's tax return (by filing an amended return) and it might get some money in your hands sooner. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p547.pdfThe situation is continuing to unfold, so unless you were desperate, I'd wait.

usually warranties don't apply to appliances used in rentals.... 

I'm applying a 50% ARV and I'm actively looking for areas I might be over estimating or underestimating.

According to the US Secretary of State website, immigrants apply for a SSN at the time they apply for a work visa.

We recently purchased our first building and are turning one of our units. The applicants are a couple, not married yet, and he is moving into town about a month prior to her. He has filled out the application and com...

I know there is some glitz and glamor to "being your own boss", but as a new agent there is so much knowledge that needs to be soaked up, and applied on top of the daily "run the business"/operations items, that it can be overwhelming.

It sounds like you'll lose some value based on the speculative nature of the properties that can be converted to single family homes.