Doesn't quite work out to be a wash because CA usually has higher tax rates so if you earned $2,000 in SC you probably paid a much lower rate... say $50 in taxes but in CA the tax on $2,000 is probably more like $180, but you would only get a credit for $50 so CA still essentially taxes that $2,000 in some fashion. 

If you had to choose 5 essential skills as an investor or just business in general, what would they be?

., a rental house put into service on October 1 only seemed to get me 25% of the regular depreciation credit for that year.The property I bought this year went into service at the beginning of July so essentially 6 months of this year.

Essentially the goal is to jump start the equity game, and reduce or remove my living expense.

The main reason for the disconnect between value and income was that appraisers only used comps from within the development, which essentially meant that unless buyers were willing to overequitize their purchase, it was very difficult for the appraised values to keep up with the 4-6% rent growth the development had seen in recent years.He told me that while the 3BR I was looking at would definitely cash flow, the real disconnect was on the 5BRs.

. :)We buy all the time then relist the properties, which is essentially what you'd be doing because you won't actually be doing a "Double Close" since your purchase won't happen the same day your end buyer can close. 

The Seller's side came up with the MLO as a strategy to avoid capital gains, so essentially my same terms on a MLO which I am not particularly fond of since 20% is a big chunk for an MLO which put me at risk of loosing it if I don't exercise my option but, I'm fine with it on a purchase because of the terms.

Knee pads and respirators are essential. 

I guess that's probably obvious.This is the second phase of the project, so there is some proof of concept in pricing, demand, absorption, etc. as well as some lessons learned in the construction that should improve efficiencies (essentially building more of the same plans).The developer is 20 year friend. 

From there, you test things out and make adjustments and additions as needs arise.This way of creating a large business model is popular these days because:It costs less to start out.You learn from mistakes and issues as you go so you won't waste money on things you thought were a good idea but didn't work out like you thought they would.You get input from the users of your service along the way essentially letting them help you create what they really want which leads to great customer reviews, etc.That's what we did when we started our online comps service.