Here's a piece about calculation partial exclusions and when the month vs day calc might be beneficial  http://www.thetaxadviser.com/issues/2008/aug/plann...Based on your earlier numbers, and assuming no renovations are added into your basis, the math would be:Basis = $235k + $17.5k = $252.5kSale = $390kGain = $137,500Prorated Sec 121 (Days)  = (573/730 * $250k) = $196,233.The only missing factor is your depreciation, which you have to deduct from your basis regardless of whether you took the deduction or not.

Oh and just a piece of advice, if you can, you should look to close shortly before the end of the month.

When I search locally, I see a bunch of pictures of members, and sort them, but I can't tell how many posts, colleagues, or any other piece of information that tells how active they are.

So I fully understand the importance of knowing the right pieces of the puzzle to put together.I reread what I wrote and realize that it may not have been written well.I guess what I meant to say is I'd rather find the primary source that would be happy with reasonable rates and fees, then the secondary lender who wouldn't be happy e anything less then the numbers I had stated above.I hope my original statement didn't offend any brokers as I know they do provide a very legitimate service

You can look up the court case records & piece the facts together.Not enough information to assume.

I hear there is a "new judge in town" which means that the foreclosure process on these liens is moving much more quickly than in the past.The number one piece of advice I can give you is to drive by the properties you are interested in after you do a Google Earth review and some other due diligence.

The hardest part of the entire process was waiting.Here are the numbers we used:Two units at $950 a piece, or $1,900 monthly rents.We used 40% for expenses instead of 50% based on some research involving posts like this one.Initially, our interest rate was 3.5%!

., and what the government plans for a specific piece of property can be VERY lucrative.

Another piece of advice, don't use Zillow as your end-all be-all valuation tool.

Each meeting, even the bad REIA meetings most likely has someone or some piece of information that can help you.