MY NAME IS ERIC I AM AN AUTO TECH WITH NO PRIOR REAL ESTATE EXPERINCE.

such as certain travel, auto, advertising, office supplies, certain tools/ supplies relating to renting etc unless they can directly be related to the rentalI'm not a tax pro just FYIDoes anyone else with more tax-planning experience have some advice

I’m a mechanical engineer, recently transferred from overseas by the company I work for.

in order to prove a mechanics lien they need to be a contract in most states .  

The rest of your analysis should focus on the usual issues- local occupancy rates, mechanicals, utility expenses, taxes, building condition, etc.

I'm pretty mechanically inclined, so I do plan to do a lot of the rehab on my own, at least for the first one and see how it goes.

Christian,one other thought , when you ask for operating statements to evaluate the numbers , forget about their (or their realtors) projected income statement,  ask for an actual accounting of all income and expenses from the last 3 years, preferably the schedule from their annual 1040 tax filing , then note  some of the expenses that you would  not have, such as auto expenses , excess legal and accounting fees that you may not have if you did your own books and evictions etc.

In new construction you can write off site improvements over 15 years and special mechanical over 5 years double declining balance.  

The term "record owner" means any person owning a present or future interest in the real property, which interest is of record at the time that the notice of hearing is filed and would be affected by the foreclosure proceeding, but does not mean or include the trustee in a deed of trust or the owner or holder of a mortgage, deed of trust, judgment, mechanic's or materialman's lien, or other lien or security interest in the real property.

Binsfield handled light repairs himself for a while before but says he isn’t mechanically inclined.