But if you are interested in becoming more passive, you might consider a "Lazy 1031" strategy where you invest the proceeds from your sale of active property into real estate syndications and use cost segregation and bonus depreciation to offset the taxes.  

You could do a 7th month at the agreed upon amount if you’re feeling generous, but you’re setting a bad precedent. 2) keep AT LEAST the 6 months of payments plus $10,000 held in escrow at the title.

update since feb (in 2mos) i sold most everything i own aside from RE, saved up $80k, which i just pretty much blew as my offer on bankowned building for my non-profit humanitarian project was accepted earlier on today and am getting the wire into escrow started tomorrow. so now i'll be down to virtually $0 cash hopeful may 1 will bring with it the big money rent rolls until then i'll practically be starvin aside from pb & wheat bread slices & 1 heineken left in da otherwise emtpy fridge & empty house.now i will have 2 properties that are paid off (and 2 properties i manage for a family member overseas from whom i get a generous % rent split) but no $ to invest anywhere else, and bad credit. is there any way to borrow against my bigger property  to buy a 3rd property or will lenders nevertheless have a problem with my bad credit (negotiated cc debt after letting em go to collections)? 

If the goal is to offset your high W2 taxes, it seems like you have two possible routes: Your wife could qualify as a Real Estate Tax Professional, or you could use Bonus Depreciation on your Short Term Rental to create a paper loss.

@Maria G. office equipment is depreciated over 5 years, but the computer should qualify for bonus depreciation allowing you to take 100%.

If you can itemize the 25k into let's say appliances and such, you can take 100% bonus depreciation on the appliance and such. 

Network with Wholesalers and more agents. offer the agents a bonus of a few thousand dollars if they find you a deal.

We also wanted to be able to take advantage of the 'bonus depreciation' -- and while reading through the IRS regulations on this, for real estate, it looks like 'placing in in service' has a varying definition. 

Lofts, dining rooms, and bonus rooms can all be converted into bedrooms.

Linky link.Snip 1, more or less as expected, no reference to any first time homebuyer or "does not own other real estate" requirements:Snip 2, with an Unexpected Holiday Bonus relevant to high cost of living areas like NYC, the San Francisco Bay Area, LA, San Diego, DC/NoVa, etc."