@Jon DorseyI agree with your CPA and @Aman S. that you can't establish your basis in the investment to be more than what you paid.A portion of the basis will be allocated to Land/building/Improvements/etcThe IRS/Courts have established various methods to come up with the depreciable basis for building.

A quality tenant isnt molded by me.

In 2016, I was able to acquire a property using the Subject-to method with the help of a friend.

If you like high quality areas with good schools Dalraida is a really good area with reasonable pricing. 

Decide if you are wanting to pursue fix and flips, or buy and holds usin the BRRR method first.  

We have had the rental for a while and now I am ready to purchase another rental home but am having a hard time deciding on the best financing method. 

BRRR method is by far the most profitable way to invest in real estate and create that investing snow ball!

Bought for $85k BRRR method is by far the most profitable way to invest in real estate and create that investing snow ball!

You can use old methods like listsource, driving for dollars or even skip tracing but you will find out quickly that these home owners are being reached over and over again.

As a method of encouragement and accountability, I wanted to raise this question for us: what are your real estate objectives in 2019?