@Bill RiderTalk to your cpa but the answer appears to be no based on what you provided

Real estate generates a return through cash flow + appreciation.It appears that cash flow is negativeAppreciation appears to be 0% over 2-3 years based on zillowThe question is what you beleive the future will hold for cash-flow and appreciation.Cash-flow will likely continue to be negativeThe question is what do you think about the appreciation for the bay area.If the property continues to stay at $850,000, it will likely not be a good decision to hold on to the property.If you think the property can appreciate to $900,000, $950,000 over a few years, then it can potentially be a good reason to hold. 

Depending on how everything looks you may want to see if they have a co-signer to ensure someone with income is able to back their play..if no one is willing to do that...there may be a reason. 

I've wholesaled 30+ deals in Texas, even though I'm based in Southern California. 

(There is also the multi-family house-hack where you buy a duplex, live in one side and rent the other, but A) those are harder to find and B) the numbers don't work as well as rent-by-the-room.)So for instance, in Denver or Colorado Springs here, house-hacking would be buying a 4-5br home.

It's "live" as it updates behind the scene everytime you look at it, since various items might reach their lifetime expectancy and, based on that, should be replaced (obviously, they can fail much sooner, or last much longer than that).Using that spreadsheet I know what how much I should save in capital expense for each property every month, per year, which ones are past their lifetime and due for replacement, and a total for all properties (if all was to fail at the same time).

The government pays a portion of the rent directly to the landlord, while the tenant pays the remaining amount based on their income.Get your property approved: Before you can rent to a Section 8 tenant, your property must meet certain housing quality standards (HQS) set by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

For instance, while it can bolster initial cash flow by reducing tax liability, it could diminish deductions in subsequent years (when the property might produce better cashflow), impacting overall tax footprint, so you need to take into account all that in the context of your short term and long term tax strategy (e.g. if you plan on selling soon, at which time the depreciation gets recovered, or not and planning to hold for a long term/forever/1031, buying more later and creating more depreciation to offset cashflow or not, etc.).The alternative is a do-it-yourself (DIY) or survey option, which costs around $400 to $500 per property (I can do my CSS report in 10min, once I have all the data needed).

Hello BiggerPockets community,I'm having some confusion with standard practice for 'First, last, deposit' collection in the scenario that the first month will be prorated.Say for instance: My property has a rent of $1000 monthly with a deposit of one month's rent ($1000), and a targeted lease start of the 15th.Given that rent will be due on the first of every month, what is the amount which should be collected for the initial 'First, last, deposit'?

After going through that book and the notes, you'll be 90% smarter than most investors in your area.Next, make a spreadsheet with a list of problems you could face, then rank them based on which ones you are most likely to face next.