The amount you can deduct for depreciation might roughly equate to the principle portion so the net effect could be that you pay taxes on an amount pretty close to the amount of net cash you keep.The portion of your mortgage payment that is principle vs. interest will depend on a number of factors, but the lender should send you a 1099 indicating how much interest was paid throughout the year which can be deducted on your taxes.

Now if I can only explain this proposal to the realtor so that she effectively conveys it to the seller...Thoughts, recommendations, advice welcome!

Cost effective, looks the part, durable and water friendly.

I like to show how important the "compounding" effect is to money, and how only in REI can you truly "compound" your initial cash investment...without ever spending it.I start it off by having my audience write down this sequence of numbers:  "1073741824"...twice, and then tell them "we'll come back to them later".I found that just giving my audience, whoever they are, the cold numbers at the end, down't have the same impact as walking them through the process...using animation, but I don't know if this would apply to you.  

I just had a staircase that was really rough re-plastered in a skip-trowel pattern and it looks great and was cost effective. 

If you are pumping out a bunch of offers...a letter of intent is going to be much more effective on your use of time than putting together a whole contract

I honestly think bringing 50 houses under contract quickly would be a recipe for disaster because it would be the classic "grow too fast and fail" effect. 

Allowing criminals to simply walk away scot free is a unfortunate side effect of having so many unprofessional landlords.

You need a different CPA.. he want you to change your legal structure so "financial reporting" is less of a headache... financial reporting is what you are paying him to do for you..Two other points:I am sure that the bank will not care who is on the LLC if your wife co-signs the loan.The point of an LLC is liability protection, it does not matter if it is sole member or multi, as long as you keep it separate you are okThird bonus point: if you file jointly, the change will not effect your taxes.

When a PM is effective, screens well and performs to your satisfaction - - smile and write the check!