hello BP community, I am in the very fortunate position of buying a little SFR for a long-time friend who has fallen on hard times and is in need of housing.If they pay a very small amount of rent each month to me (basically going to charge them just enough to cover property tax/operating expenses), is the property still considered "in service" / can I deduct depreciation for IRS tax purposes?

Considering you have so much equity and no matter what all fees will be deducted from your "cash out" I wouldn't worry too much about the points

@Thomas Ingrao you are basically negotiating for a $20 payment deduction a month over the life of the loan.

What are the allowable deduction limits?

I put $500 for his rent and then the next lines are the work deductions listed out separately.

I am not sure if you get any deductions on your taxes for the donation but you could always ask them.  

These two sentences probably have 5 different codes that need to be met before concluding the deduction.

@Bradley J Allen deductibility follows use, so the the cash out used to buy a new personal home is not tax deductible.

I have no money in the deal, generate $3600 a year and take advantage of all the tax advantages of mortgage interest deduction, property tax deduction, mortgage pay down, depreciation my ROI is actually much better.  

I am currently paying the 401K money back thru payroll deduction over 5 years from a very stable regular job.