Start-up costs are also deductible but are amortized over 15 years with a limit of 5k.Start-up costs have strict rules and your case might not be the same as this one.Case Summary:Timeline line of eventsStarted investigating property: FebPut first contract (canceled): MayBought first property: December 30thWhether a taxpayer is engaged in a trade or business is determined using a facts and circumstances test under which courts have focused on the following three factors that indicate the existence of a trade or business:Whether the taxpayer undertook the activity intending to earn a profit;Whether the taxpayer is regularly and actively involved in the activity; andWhether the taxpayer's activity has actually commenced.On the basis investor testimony, we may assume that he undertook this activity to make a profit and that he regularly and actively engaged in it.

As the new buyer, I would assume you walked the property and are familiar with how the "long term" tenant keeps things up. 

Question - A lot of times there is a name on file but they don't live on the premises, how do I actually find the number for the property owner?

We are looking to buy a multi family property close to where we are from for the first investment.

How do you evaluate a property?

Hi Glenn, we use JWB for our property management.

I am looking to buy more properties but putting down 20-25% each time plus closing costs etc is a lot of money that I also want to allocate to other goals.I have heard partnerships are a strategy to leverage other people’s money to create deals that will benefit both sides depending on terms that are setup. 

Hey Earl, I manage MTRs (most of them in NC/SC but a handful elsewhere).

The partnerships are for rental properties or no? 

I've run the numbers on a bunch of properties using the following numbers:- vacancy 6%- Property tax 0.44% of list price per year- Insurance $250 / month- Capex 5%- Repairs/Maintenance 5%- Property Management 10%I've found a couple with a slight positive cash flow (no more than $50).