Helps if someone should try to stiff you.Depending on your clientele, you might want to include a page with a description of the condition of the apartment and/or photos, and have them initial and date each item / photo at move in.

Has anyone ever done traditional Bandit signs around Denver, Colorado?  

And "that" conversation isn't necessarily a bad one to have, depending on your tolerance for risk.VA has the lowest credit/income/asset standards paired with the best rates & no mortgage insurance, they compensate for this with the highest standards for the property of any traditional mortgage loan program.Depending on your risk tolerance, you may want to actually be willing to spend money putting BS band aids on the home post-appraisal and after you've got your conditional loan approval.

This is my 1st time with 1040 and rental.a) Is it possible to list the closing costs under any expense item - eg. commission.

When you're dealing with a traditional agent/seller situation, verbal offers can go a long way before ink and paper have to be involved.  

Is owner financing involved, do you get other private investors, do you bring in a partner, or are you only going to stick with something in your budget for a traditional 20% to 25% down on a commercial loan?

In what you have described the only issue I can see the underwriter asking about is the derogatory items from 2010.Relax and breath.

If you're knocking it down and building up on the existing foundation, you may be grandfathered in on some items.

Do you think you can ask for the seller to repair those items as part of the negotiation process?

I've used Quickbooks and Peachtree in the past.....Xero is a much easier product to use and actually allows you to calculate depreciation each month (which last I checked Quickbooks does not do).I set up each rental as a separate "project" so when preparing tax returns on the Single Member LLC, I can easily split out the Schedule E items.