@John Wallace This is in relation to the deductibility of interest on the borrower's individual income tax return as an itemized deduction (Schedule A).If the proceeds from an equity loan are used to purchase another investment property, the interest will be deductible against rental income.We have to apply the tracing rules when determining the deductibility of interest payments.

He said as long as I put up a sign, it rents very quickly.

As far as penalties for taking more time , The contract I would have you sign doesnt have anything close to that in it .

Since you're doing this on your own, you'll need to get a sales contract with the offer terms and have the seller sign it.

You can test how confident she really is in her friend’s ability to pay by asking if she’d be willing to co-sign for him, just to gauge her response.

If so, if he and I sign on a paper, is that sufficient ?

You need to refer to the new CZO (Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance) and determine the current zoning as well as the future land use zoning.You can look up the zoning here:  http://property.nola.gov/

I am trying to determine if $120/sq ft is accurate for me.

Hes going to get a leasing agreement signed on Monday and will list the property at 1.5M$ as of now.

Those will exhibit the opposite of an inclined business cycle.I believe that an Investor can intelligently determine whether then business cycle will be inclined, declined or just horizontal by understanding what happens to their particlar neighborhood during the down cyle part of the business cycle.For instance, in the downturn, it is normal for Cities to lose money, and therefore cut services.