In other words, my income on my pay stub is not a whole lot, but the total value of the room and board (I pay for nothing else out of pocket - gas for my car, utilities, internet, groceries, and so on) is valued at much more.

I love picking everyone’s brain I meet and helping out those I can.

I had a home picked and an offer accepted - waited 3 weeks to get off their butt, give me the run around, and then tell me no 2 days before the offer deadline on the house. 

I have some interest in seeing the completed work seeing that when I was there the first unit was just started (you had picked out the flooring but it was not installed). 

We got the place ready in time for the hot Phx summer so it was pretty slow July-Aug but started to pick up in September.

Two of the safe harbors that can help you deduct improvements are below:1) 2500 de minimis safe harbor.the safe harbor applies to amounts paid during the tax year to acquire or produce what the regs call a “unit of property” (UOP), you must meet these requirements: (1)you need to have written accounting procedures treating as an expense for non-tax purposes amounts paid for property costing less than a specified dollar amount (which will be 2500 for you), or with an economic useful life of 12 months or less;.(2) the taxpayer treats the amount paid for the property as an expense on its books and records in accordance with its accounting procedures. ( do this on your bookkeeping software or whatever you utilize)(3) the amount paid for the UOP doesn't exceed $2,500. as substantiated by the invoiceNote: The cost for the Unit of Property includes l additional costs (for example, delivery fees, installation services, or similar costs) if these additional costs are included on the same invoice with the property.2) Small taxpayer safe harbor: To be eligible for the safe harbor, the total amount of improvements for the property for the tax year may not exceed the lesser of $10,000 or2% of the property's unadjusted basis.If the total amount paid exceeds the safe harbor threshold, the safe harbor does not apply to any amounts spent during the tax year.

Hi Ben,Take the opportunity to utilize the free marketing software out there.

Hopefully, you already asked to see the following items:- lease agreements (look for: special maintenance clauses and what items the tenant is responsible for repairing if any, late fee dues and dates, security and extra deposits, what the owner pays vs what the tenant pays for utilities, landscaping, pest control, etc)- payment ledger- notices given (if any)- copies of annual inspection reports- Estoppel Certificates (show rent, amount of security deposit) if you do not have an agreementYou will need the current property management company to also provide you with current tenant contact information, keys to the unit, and any paperwork listed above.

Reasons such as that has made me a little more exploratory on building my next MF, I happen to have a nice piece of land picked out :) I think @Michael Seeker has a great point too about the profile of the investor(s).

While it may (or may not) pick correct comps as far as square footage, beds, and baths, I doubt it knows neighborhoods--sometime just crossing the street makes a huge difference--or condition.