Jason lots of fraud and criminals out there trying to make a quick buck.You could be sucked in and chosen "guilty by association" in the deal.We have a saying in the business.This deal has "too much hair on it" and you need to walk away.Many of these techniques with short sales squeaked by 3 or 4 years ago before bank guidelines were in place.Now with systems you cannot get away with anything if you wanted to.Before there were shades of grey that were closed out.I would see buyers write up a bill of sale and pay the seller 4,000 for JUNK for personal property.At the time certain things didn't have to be disclosed.Short sales made up only about 1 percent of loans when the market just started turning.So anyone looking at short sale techniques make sure they work TODAY and not from years ago.You will pay dearly for using old techniques that can get you in trouble that are not allowed today.You have to adapt and structure deals to stay in compliance with the ever changing laws.

There are rules to follow so you should get a professional's help, but it could save you around $10k in taxes.

As long as you are active in some of the decisions you quite likely will be considered active.You can get around the 25K limit and the high income limitations if either you are your wife is considered a real estate professional.

Due to my lack of experience, two of the lenders required the use of a professional property management company from their list of preferred vendors.

As soon as you start tapping that promotional cash, they have a hair trigger on cutting your lines down.

Professionals understand that they are responsible for the loss of use of a property due to negligence or failure to perform as agreed.If a contractor tells me work will be done in a week, I'll usually allow another 20% or 3 days in this case. 90 days will get them 3 more weeks, that is plenty of time for the CG to cover an issue.Toward the end of some jobs, when there is not much money left in a job you may find a CG who starts moving on to other jobs, they may tend to slack off, dragging their feet finishing a punch list.

If I remember in basic accounting classes, if you buy back debt you owe at a lesser value than what it was issued at, that is considered a financial gain in the IRS' eyes and we know what the IRS does to financial gains.I'm not 100% sure, that's why I would think its worth a few hundred bucks to find out from a professional.

I'd recommend finding a tax professional (Preferrably a qualified and reputable Enrolled Agent or CPA) We here on the board can definitely help you find someone.Summary: Everything can and will be deductible.

I will be the very short haired guy in a bright blue polo shirt!

After interning at a local CPA firm and talking with numerous Big Four professionals, I came to realize that although I did well in accounting and took full advantage of accounting clubs and associations, real estate was my true passion.