.• The money I lend comes from reputable wholesale lenders and banks I’m approved with — all underwritten through standard agency or investor guidelines.• For down payment assistance, those are generally limited to owner-occupied deals — happy to run through what’s available if you plan to live in one of the units.• To start, I’d just need some basic info about your goals, income, credit, and property type — we can figure out the best fit from there.• Pre-approvals usually take 24 hours or less once I have the necessary info.• Yes, I have rate lock programs available through several of my lenders.• I can absolutely share references and reviews from clients, including some who are active here on BiggerPockets.• And yes, I regularly connect clients with investor-friendly agents, property managers, and insurance pros in the area.If you’d like, we can set up a quick call or Zoom to talk through what you’re looking for and get you pre-approved.– David Stephens

Not advertising a deal, just trying to understand what “market” looks like.Hypothetical (but based on a real situation):- Location: Central Los Angeles, Jefferson Park–type area- Asset: Existing 4-unit multifamily on a single parcel- Context: Within walking distance (~0.5 miles) of an E Line / K Line rail station, so it appears to fall into a transit-oriented development (TOD) pocket that should benefit from SB 79 upzoning (higher minimum density / height / FAR if standards are met)- Ownership: Held in a family trust tied to a probate / conservatorship, with a court-supervised mandate to (a) preserve the asset and (b) use it to support an elderly beneficiaryThe family side can realistically contribute **land only**; they don’t have the balance sheet or cash to run a full entitlement + construction process.

That’s the gold standard especially if you want defensible results and maximum accelerated depreciation.I’m the CEO of Engineered Tax Services, and this is exactly what our team specializes in.

Tes, keep it clean and lender‑friendly: have the purchase contracts show true market value, then reflect the discount as a seller credit labeled “gift of equity” from your parents, backed by a signed gift letter and proof they own the properties; expect the lender to require an independent appraisal, standard reserves, and that the gift only covers down payment/equity, not your required closing costs on some programs.

Their customer service was disrespectful throughout the process.To be fair, this company is based in New York, and maybe their standards or processes differ from those on the West Coast.

Student rentals usually see more wear and tear, so deposits and inspection standards matter a lot!!!

Swap old water heaters only as they fail or if you’re standardizing for reliability.

The PMs I’m using now refuse to add my contractors to their vendor lists, which makes it hard to verify pricing or maintain the standards I’m used to.Here are the specific issues from some of them (not all PMs) I’ve run into:- They won’t add my contractors to their preferred vendor list.- They charge me for getting estimates, even though PMs typically get them for free because of their volume.- They don’t get second estimates, so I can’t be sure their pricing is competitive.- They won’t visit the property to assess issues in person.- Refused to do rental showings despite written permission from my long-term existing tenant.

Quote from @Michael Baum: So we have been running a STR for going on 9 years now and the income or depreciation didn't change anything on the FAFSA for us.I assume you are using standard depreciation.  

I have a 40 day standard california one.