I purchase the property, do my rehab/ updates, stage, and list the home.

Just like the fact that many of our buyers love the idea of getting some of the staging furniture -- it often means a full-price or near full-price offer because the buyers are thrilled they can roll this stuff into their loan instead of having to pay cash after they purchase.Btw, I just did the math, and on average, we sell our properties for 95.23% of the original list price with a first contract in an average of 15.4 days.

Forcing people to pay in with the threat of prison or excessive penalties would be considered extortion in the private sector.

Just because it spends more that it takes in does NOT mean that we exclude those excess purchases from the GDP calculation.Some economic theories suggest that accumulated debt can have a feedback effect on consumers and businesses who anticipate higher future taxes and curb their current purchases.Further discussion of this topic is way too involved for a bulletin board.

We also included an over-usage clause making the tenants liable for water charges over $25 in excess over the past 6 months average.

.- Tenant is messy and does not participate in agreed "roommates take turns cleaning"- Tenant is loud late at night in shared common areas- Tenant has had excessive houseguests stay here (more than a month's worth in less than a year)- Basically, tenant has had a bad attitude the whole time, as well as causing damage.

One rented so far, one in the final stages of rent prep (Paint!)

That subclause would state "Should tenent receive a doctor's orders for a emotional comfort pet/companion, tenant agrees that said companion animal shall be either a domestic dog or domestic cat neither be in excess of 25 lbs at the time of acquisition nor grow to be in excess of 25 lbs during its lifetime and the tenancy of the tenant."

Jim, the answer would largly depend on your current cash availability position in excess of your next years living expenses, however, since you mentioned a strong interest in rehab flipping, that, in my opinion, is the best thing to do in So CAL right now, of course that could change in a few years too so you will need to learn how to change strategies as the market changes.

If the rug is soiled excessively you may consider deducting it but if normal wear an tear you eat that unless your lease says otherwise.