The IRS has a publication on Depreciation with a table that will tell you how to compute your first year depreciation based on the month you place the rental into service.

My thoughts on how we let the whole thing happen goes back the conception of the federal reserve system by a group of competing bankers in secrecy (all public data now).

I am not saying that it will not, but I doubt even the most educated economist can predict that "Today is the day, we are at bottom".

The education you get just getting your license is invaluable.

Before the foreclosure bubble exploded, my network of mortgage/real estate friends were noticing that lenders were not filing/reporting NOD's so as not to impact their reserve requirements negatively, which concealed the extent of the problem from the public for some time.

Jon,I'm trying to follow your math.But, I'm not getting a loan on the property I'm wishing to purchase.I'm getting a loan on my current house which is assessed at 350K and has a zero balance.I don't qualify for a HELOC or a home equity loan because of my credit score so I can only get an FHA loan.The minimum FHA loan I can draw against my home is 80K at 6%Of that 80K...60K would go towards purchasing an investment property....20k would be kept in a separate account to cover unforeseen expenses.I do appreciate the education.

There are certainly answers that would work, but they involve pain - something the weak and whiney American public is not willing to accept.

Since that's a public number, I strongly suspect there were concessions involved with that sale that made the price better.

There is an excellent movie quote that describes the situation in the real world very succinctly (and bonus points if you can tell me what movie it is from). “What the American Public don’t know is what makes them the American Public.†Truer words were never spoken.

That particular article was never meant to be made public.