A lot of it will also depend on what type of capex I expect coming up.

I can somewhat agree, especially with the fed expecting to raise rates 3 more times this year.Many BP'ers here are in the business of real estate for the cash-flow(which may be difficult in NYC). 

Buy without any preconceived expectations and operate your business as it evolves.

We expereinced an anomaly of “temporary” demand from the flood of August 2016 that delayed the expected declines and softening of the rental market.  

A station will be opened at Stockton/Washington with service starting in 2019 so expect the demand of property within walking distance of that station to appreciate in the following years.

Best to go into the deal with the expectation of putting up 25% down; 'Creative' financing is possible, especially on a turn around type acquisition, where the buyer may be adding value to the property through better management, renovation, tenant mix, etc.One thing to watch out for is what I call 'the great lie' of apartment sales. 

To me, an appraisal seems a fair way to bridge the price expectation gap between the buyer and the seller.

I’m thinking of purchasing rentals in Scranton, PA, but have had a hard time getting an owner on the horn to talk about services, pricing, and my expectations.

Here are the numbers on a BRRR duplex I am just finishing:Purchase: $85,000Rehab and holding costs: $25,000Rent: $1820 I am refinancing on a 30-year fixed and expect the appraisal to come in around $150,000, so my monthly payment will be around $750.

., there was a technical error, and the section of the tax code describing 15-year property (Section 168(e)(3)(E)) was in fact not amended to include qualified improvement property.So for now, strictly-speaking, in 2018, qualified improvement property is regular old 39-year property that is not eligible for bonus depreciation.We do expect that a technical correction to the law will be made, but for now the IRS has actually stated that it cannot guarantee that absent legislative correction it will accept the legislatively intended change in recovery period and bonus eligibility.Anyway, this is neither here nor there since you have stated you are a landlord of residential rental property rather than non-residential real estate.And this does not affect the application of 100% bonus depreciation to both qualifying new and used property place in service after 9/27/17 and before 1/1/23 that @Yonah Weiss pointed out.