He's what I've thought up today:1 - cardboard permit that entitles tenant to preferred parking.2 - cardboard discount card that works at local businesses3 - cardboard storage locker for laundry room4 - cardboard markers to defines gardening space 5 - cardboard room partitions that divides space or creates a reading nook

If the extermination company balks and says they don't do visits every two months, keep the monthly visits but divide them among the two locations. 

The property is in a Historic District in DC, which we are told it would be extremely hard to obtain permits to convert back into a 2 unit property.We have also been told that since there isn't a second door in the front of the property anymore (which with the new laws a second door cannot be added again) and because the basement divider wall has been removed the property cannot be grandfathered into the old laws and  we would have to go before a board to be approved and that this would be extremely hard to do.We agreed to buy this property based on the fact that we could convert back into 3 level 2 unit property.

I understand in Massachusetts, since my father did not leave a will, half of the estate would go to his spouse (my mother) and the other half would be divided between the children (my siblings, all adults) .

There are 2 numbers being thrown around in this thread and I was about to clarify it but you beat me to it ;)There are 2 types of returns one gets from real estate investments (or really, for any investment that produces a yield or dividend or income):Cash on Cash Return - is the cashflow you get every month divided by the cash you invested to acquire/renovate/stabilize the assetandInternal Rate of Return - is the total of the cashflow and the net profit from sale (including loan paydown) divided by the cash you invested to acquire/renovate/stabilize the asseLarge apartment complexes in decent areas (A/B), specially when you're trying to do a value-add, will produce 6-8% Cash on cash on YEAR 1 (or even lower) but it increases significantly on year 2 onwards as you're able to increase the average rents/ reduce the expenses through improved management efficiencies (my stabilized project CoC is about 12%).You can get higher CoC (10% and up) for sure (even on Year 1) with apartment buildings in C/D areas but generally, you tend to get lower IRR due to the lower net profit from sale due to the higher cap rate.And as far as the advice never to get a property with very low (or negative) CoC on year 1 - well, I agree and somewhat disagree.I agree specially if you're a newbie investor and has no passive income yet.But, once you get passive income, you can work on heavy repositioning projects that might not cashflow on year 1 BUT the cashflow and the IRR is significant once you turn the project around.

“The husband worked full-time as an emergency physician, while his wife divides her time between caring for their children and managing their rental properties.

You want to divide out whats easiest and most natural for each of you to do.

If you divide your operations that will help show what the transaction really was for.

@Sam Gill You will need your accountant to agree with the applicability of the exception in your case but if you meet the criteria and have lived in it for less than two years you would take the $250k (500K if married) and divide that by 24 and then multiply by the number of months you lived in it.  

$113 divided by 12 is around $9.50 a month.