I am not a lawyer/tax professional.Here is what the IRS says:https://www.irs.gov/publications/p463/ch01.htmlOn a side note, based on what I have learned from some professionals, your trip must be predominantly for business purposes: you must spend at least half of the total days on your business.

Ask your tax professional if you should file as a qualified joint venture or not.

Our appraisal fee on the investment property was also $650, it is true that they are higher.

In our case, it was a young professional family with 1-2 children and maybe a dog who care about high quality schooling and a family-friendly home and neighborhood.  

And require that installation of the washer/dryer is to be done by a licensed and insured professional, and that the tenant will be liable for any damages caused by faulty installation. 

If you don't mind that all you get to borrow is 70% of what your true property value is then i suppose a HELOC isn't the worst way to go.In your situation, expect the bank to base their lending decision on what you paid for the property 6 months ago.

Get rid of the free loaders and start running a professional business.

learn about 1031 tax deferred exchangescomplete you financial package - 3 years tax returns P&L - real estate portfolio, credit scoreexpect to be rejected by lenders and other W-2 employees - qualify lenders, bankers, mortgage brokers - ask what products they have - see if you qualify for themlook at 20 buildings before offering on any - know the SF dollar cost - keep a journalmail lots of letters (be professional NO yellow childish communications) to owners of apartment buildingsUnderstand what a CAP rate is and how to get to it - fill out your  commercial APODVerify -verify - verify all financial data given you by sellers - sellers are liars (so are buyers) trust NO One!

Non professional practices will normally result in major financial losses.

If they have no ownership interest then just the opposite is likely true and you probably need a license.