Section 8 is none of that.. and you run the real risk of excess wear and tear as many section 8 is single mom multiple kids.. and they are just tough on houses..

ORC 5321.16 - Any security deposit greater than $50 or one month's rent(basically all security deposits) whichever is greater shall bear interest on the excess at 5% per annum and paid annually by the Landlord to the tenant.This only applies to amounts greater than one month's security deposit, so if I make my security deposit equal to one month's rent, there is no interest to be paid?

I have a family friend who has excess cash from a small business and is willing to lend to me for RE investing.

If I have a tenant for 7+ years, I don't charge them anything unless I have to remove personal items or trash out of the property or do excessive cleaning.

I did my due diligence and pulled the taxes to make certain nothing excessive was due.

Many times if it is not separately metered you can use RUBs Ratio utility billing or have an excessive use provision in the lease.

Have you had problems keeping tenants, excessive turn over.

The excess is expected to be put into the rehab/improvement.

Avoid large national banks as they have excessive demands and review processes.

Let's try to twist your mind a bit ... you have to pay tax on cash flow ... if instead of collecting cash flow as it trickles in, paying taxes on it, and then DRIPing it into index funds, etc. if you don't need the cash flow and do need the tax write off, what if you were to pull excess equity out via cash out refinance ... use that larger lump some to redeploy into another investment property or any other investment you choose.