We signed the lease without noticing the additional item that he put in. 

I do inspections every 6 moths, and this is one of the items I check for. 

For that year, I ended up booking those expenses on their respective line items in my P&L.... should I have not done that and left them off operating expenses all together since they were paid at closing?

It helped me understand that I did everything I could to get this repaired as quickly as possible.This got me thinking for the future, as Terry actually mentioned, in my leases going forward, should I include a clause or statement that states, in black and white, what the reasonable repair times for certain items are based on local laws and jurisdictions?

I’d rather spend the time in my area of expertise (software) where I can earn more money per time spent with far less risk.I’m not trying to make a living off of real estate – it’s more to park cash in a tax-efficient vehicle and remove the temptation to spend it on luxury items (let's be honest, I'm not as frugal as many of you ;-) ).

I may incorporate what you say with some other item.

., Ralph nailed two of the most important items you missed:1 - All three agreements must NOT refer to the other agreements, as they are all 3 separate agreements2 - DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT ever give credits/month towards the purchase. 

LLCs I think have become mostly a personal vanity item, a rather transparent and shallow way to impress the woefully naive, and other uninformed wannabes.

outside of the cost of the appraisal - do you have to pay for items such as a loan origination fee, title costs relating to recording a mortgage, etcI appreciate everyone's help!

As opposed to, the interest being considered investment interest and I have to itemize?