Also he stated that the Chevy truck he had is rated at 6,000lbs, so it allowed him to deduct the cost of the vehicle on his taxes over 5 years along with bonus deductions. 

Real Estate Professional status to offset losses against gains is more complicated than meets the eye.I think none of my passive losses due to bonus depreciation did not count.ALso if I remember correctly my CPA said my active agent/broker income could not be offset by passive losses.While I meet the basic requirements of hours worked, it did not help me.I would guess 99% of most realtors cannot offset their income, because they do not actively manage the brokerage or have enough passive losses over and above their normal investment income from those assests that they get to write off anyway.For sure this is an area for most people that they want their CPA involved and on their return....there's probably enough people who think they can claim professional status and not qualify for the offsets, that it ends up being a flag for IRS.

To my mind, you have a 3 bedroom house with 2 bonus rooms that could be used as storage, home office, playroom, etc.If you comp out 3 bedroom homes what would the rent be?

If I successfully execute a RE transaction I should be able to pay off what I borrow anyway but that’s just a bonus.

What they got was just that, with a bonus five grand that they did not ask for, expect, see coming, or even know to hope for.

BONUS QUESTION: for those of you willing to answer THE question...

For bonus points calculate cash on cash by dividing the final component by year one cash in deal. 

I am buying a property in Orlando and it has a bonus room that can be converted into bedroom by adding closet.

Bonus points if you can get the land under valued, and have more immediate equity in the deal 

It’s been about 2 yrs now and I want to really seriously start looking into R/E investment, so I figured my first baby step will be to take care of this current condo and ensure that I am at least in a positive cash flow situation.My question is, I have about 20K cash in bonus from my day job and I am wondering whether I should put it down towards the mortgage on my current condo that way I can reduce my monthly mortgage payment, or use that money as a down payment on a new rental property.Thanks for your feedback!!