Originally posted by Jayme Tlaloc:First door I knocked on - a little half naked kid opens the door - says his mom is not home and shuts the door fast.Reminds me of a joke:A traveling salesman knocks on a door.

the avenue it travels is Foreclosure Auction, if no sale, it's then assigned to a real estate agent who then handles the sale in the local area.

. :) Well, the old lady remarried, her new husband drank the kids money away and bought a new boat and pickup a travel trailer and had a mistress on the side, they got a divorce, the kids dropped out of school and the little lady spent the rest in Vegas.

It is kind of my comfort zone I suppose, and we travel to visit family, so if I can deduct a little of our traveling expenses because I am going to check on my properties, that is even better.Michael U,Thanks for the welcome.

(Maybe I'm being naive though, and that happens routinelyOld habits die hard.

His preferred strategy is to acquire clustered houses from a seller who has mismanaged the group and willing to accept paper that allows the buyer to still see positive cash flow.I first met Jay when my friend Mike Cantu insisted we travel together to Redding, CA and take Jay's 3-day, hands on, property rehab course.

Travel, invest for my family and friends, start a charity for under privileged kids, fund more educational needs around the world.

The flips are going to support your rental habit.

We've had the same landscapers for years, and we pay travel time, as well as, as far as I can determine, we pay them to take care of utility easement areas (whether they in fact do that or not.)

For example, if I have a 2 bedroom, 1 bath home and remodel it to a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home, that expense goes into my "Tax Basis" for depreciation but not into the 50% category.I think we're in agreement...When I said Capital Expenses, I didn't mean rehab expenses to get the property into rental/habitable/marketable condition (though from a tax perspective those definitely are capital expenses)...instead, I meant the Capital Expenses needed to keep the property in that state after you start renting it out.For example, replacing the roof every 20 years or so, replacing the HVAC every 20 years or so, replacing the hot water heater every 10 years or so, etc.A lot of people call these "expenses," but from a tax standpoint, they're classified as capital costs, which is why I call them out separately.