What she didn't realize was that HUD would then reduce the amount of the rent that she would pay.

I think, that they think, that they can just reduce the purchase price and apply them to seller closing costs ..

Don't forget to take the Energy Star credit on your tax return.That may be a bigger bang for the buck than the allowable depreciation or hoping to get away with a deduction :)

If you have the time and energy I would go for it.

Form a landlord perspective, we are not renting with utilities included (a big plus ... we are also able to assign the water/sewer to the tenant in our SFH student rentals) and, as an added bonus, it allows us to track the performance of our buildings following the completion of a deep energy efficiency renovations.

If you are young and earn a big salary, an RRSP will reduce your personal income tax and you have time on your side for those investments to grow.

Reduce the rent.

We have a couple of student houses which are probably the most energy efficient and amongst the classiest {for a student rental} in "universityville".

All I want in return of my time, energy, and resources is guidance and experience of investing process.

This will also depends on state law if income derived from collateral is to be recognized as a reduction of debt but usually it's first applied to holding costs.Either way, it's irrelevant really to you other than saying they have not been hurt as badly if no rents had been paid, they either reduce the expense or go to income that is still applied to reduce expenses and loan losses.Have they received rents?