Every auditor will take any expense from before the placed in service date and will try to REMOVE them from your tax return.

These will be essential in case of an audit or other tax inquiry.Tax professional: Consider consulting with a tax professional who has experience working with rental property owners.

It probably saved me a week of time sitting with the auditor as she went through two tax years in what seemed to be intricate detail to resolve their questions.

They are expecting to also hire auditors, customer service staff, IT, legal support and invest in “investigative technology.

@Alex Etlin  Use Zillow and the auditor's website to look at other properties that sold in the last year or so. 

I am an accounting manager and she is a internal auditor, together we make ~$145k/year. 

We have done a couple deals so have proof of concept, but looking to do more.I've traveled throughout the states as an auditor, so I've seen a lot of different markets and I'm always looking for new opportunities.

@Kurt Baltutat Go to your local county auditor and pull lists of 2-4 unit multi family homes, skip trace the owners, and get calling.

I go to the state auditors page to see what will be for sale.

You also mention you paid them in cash - you have no way to support this then, under audit you would be screwed and this would also make the auditor question anything else you have going on.