That depreciation helps reduce your taxable rental income.Repairs vs. improvements: Like Scott mentioned above, a little can go a long way.

Randolph County shows more price stability and limited inventory, which supports LTR demand.

Here’s the quick rule of thumb I share with clients:If it’s a repair (fixing what’s broken or keeping things running), you can usually deduct it right now.If it’s an improvement (something that adds value or extends the property’s life), you’ll have to depreciate it over time.So… patching a roof = deductible repair.Replacing the entire roof = depreciable improvement.And with the 2025 tax rules, certain property components (like appliances or flooring) might even qualify for 100% bonus depreciation if you do a cost segregation study.Curious how everyone here handles it — do you separate repairs vs. improvements yourself, or just hand it all over to your CPA at tax time?

Homes sit for a variety of reasons - priced high to start, in & out of contract multiple times, poor photos, bad listing description, on a busy road, area has slowed(more inventory).

Fellow lenders/investors,There’s been a lot of momentum toward new construction loans lately, especially in markets where inventory is tight.For those scaling their portfolios, does building from scratch feel like a smarter move compared to chasing overpriced resales?

Interest deduction rules improved.

Are you seeing more inventory that is investor friendly than not enough equity in the deal?

There are definitely still supply/demand imbalances in quite a few Sunbelt markets at the moment, and the Huntsville area is no exception.Single-family and multifamily new deliveries peaked in Q2 2023, so there’s still a bunch of new inventory waiting to be absorbed—hence the negative rent growth and appreciation some folks are seeing right now.In my view, what’s interesting about places like Decatur and Meridianville is not where they are now, but where they’ll be in a decade.The Huntsville metro area is constrained by mountainous geography to the east (beginning with Monte Sano State Park and beyond), so the natural path of development and progress is west towards Wheeler Lake and north towards Meridianville and Hazel Green.If the Huntsville metro area continues to match the pace of demographic growth it’s seen since the 1990s, these suburbs could, in my humble opinion, look very different down the line. 

This works out well as it gives you, the buyer, time to improve the property (force appreciation) via physical improvements and/or improving the management. 

Once you narrow done what you are looking for, I can help you with inventory.