So if you are purchasing a house with land, you typically would try to allocate more of the price to the house, as you don't take depreciation on land.If your goal is maximum taxable writeoffs and you have a number of other properties, you may want to look into cost segregation (but it won't be worth it if you only have this property).Keep in mind that when you sell the property, you'll have to pay tax on the depreciation (usually a 25% rate).Be sure to chat with a CPA about allocating the purchase price in a sale, as you need to follow one of the multiple acceptable ways to allocate.Also, depending on how the rest of your portfolio looks and your timetable for holding, being less aggressive in allocating the purchase to high depreciation items may work out better. 

You might want to double check on the quit claim deed transfer method - usually is not transferring the title insurance.

I've found that houses with little to no work are usually priced at market value so there isn't really an opportunity to gain equity.

Usually they're related to real estate or the subject matter of the podcast. 

Conversely if for any reason the price the market is willing to pay for an apartment goes down yet an old lease is charging more, then this is called a gain to lease.Typically, in multifamily, gains to lease are rare because leases are usually 12 months or less.

Looking for a place in Atlanta where I may be able to purchase brand name new appliances for wholesale prices - or at least at price points lower than the usual big box stores.

The cost to rebuild in this area is usually way more than what the property will be worth. 

Seems like a basic question that your mentors should be able to answer for you and if they can't, maybe you need new mentors.I usually try to find realtors that offer me off market deals.

In the South that usually means 4-5k SF brick built in in the 1980’s.

Usually there are few trolls on BP.