But, I'm trying to arm myself with some tax knowledge so I can review his return.Prior to buying a first home, we generally have expenses such as consulting a guru, attending RE conferences, buying education books or incurring plane/meal/hotel expenses to visit properties (assuming the trip was pre-planned with R/E business in mind).In my case, I had those expenses, plus performed inspections of a property that I ended up not buying.

I also moved away from in-person meetings and only schedule them when absolutely necessary allowing me to fit more meetings in and reduced the time spent doing laundry as my "work clothes" are yoga pants.My travel last year was not as much as I had hoped… I took 8 weeks off and went to Boston twice, Denver twice, San Francisco, Phoenix, Detroit, and took a four-day motorcycle trip around lake Michigan.

Take a road trip & look at college town rentals or a nice suburb like Derby, KS.In Austin I would suggest house hacking & buying a quad or duplex & living in one & have tenants pay your mortgage.

You need to mark the step up so it isnt a trip hazard.Was the extension of the deck permitted?

Are there any trip wires that I need to be cautious of ... other than "you have to consider the lost earnings if you withdraw your money, etc, etc." 

My wife is working on a graphics design degree, and one of the programs in her Adobe Suite (full plethora of amazing graphics software) can edit 360° video both normal and VR, including inserting characters and other items into the video in proper spacial position.

On the commercial side, I would say the majority of commercial lenders will follow the 5 C's of commercial lending (in order of importance - character, cash flow, collateral, capital and conditions). 

However, a trip to the US would probably be enough to eat up most of your profit for the year if you are doing such a small, or low-priced property.It's better to find a syndicator with a good track record whom you trust, and invest passively with that person.  

Hi everyonei'm starting my investment's at the US and need help,does anyone know if and how it's possible to set up a bank account without being present  at the moment(yet, a trip to the states is planned in several month)it's very complicated and expensive to have few wire transaction to each payment and companythank you

I am in GR and the amount of investors here does make it hard to get a great deal but they are still here you just have to be working with the right people...PM me and maybe I could help make you trip worth it.