For me a great wealth builder was (1) a DEFINED BENEFIT plan allowing me to defer tax on up to $350,000 per year at age 50 when I was in the highest tax bracket; and conversion to and into a ROTH 401k (all self directed) over a 5 year period at a lower bracket and a BIG discount for the non liquidity of my retirement portfolio investments.  

Here are some common ones I’ve heard:Build enough passive income to leave your job.Use rental cash flow to pay for children’s or grandchildren’s college.Revitalize neighborhoods while creating affordable housing.Rehab existing properties to boost rents and long-term value.Grow your net worth and leave a lasting inheritance.Supplement your paycheck with monthly cash flow.Capitalize on future market upticks by holding and renting now.Your Next StepSet aside 15–30 minutes this week to clearly define your real estate goals.

Our agent is sending us lots of different stuff and it's becoming apparent that we need to really define our criteria.

I've found this mortgage calculator breaks down all the components really clearly: https://ultra-calculator.com/calculator/mortgage-payment.

So, here’s the answerYou Start at the beginning and ask what your goal is.Real estate only consists of a few components. 1.

While the whole 40+ page policy can be a lot to get through, I'd start with the occupancy requirement, how vacant is defined, and how they define a building or dwelling structure if your work has begun.Generally, there is an occupancy requirement with some buffer, maybe 30 days, maybe your policy gives you 45 or 60 days.

You can take bonus depreciation on any property that has assets that qualify.So to answer your question, yes, you can take bonus depreciation on components of a house that is used as a MTR.However, what you may want to determine from a conversation with an accountant is whether the activity will be treated as active or passive.The next question would be, even if you can do a cost segregation study, would the added depreciation from bonus depreciation be beneficial.

It’s definitely a balancing act — owners want to protect their investment, but holding too tightly to outdated assumptions (like 2021 rent levels or tenant demand) can end up costing more in the long run.I’ve found the best approach is setting clear expectations upfront with a manager: define thresholds where the manager can act without approval (like minor repairs or small rent adjustments) and bigger decisions that require owner sign-off.

I’m also an investor myself so I know the ins and outs from both sides of the table.Since I know intros are more useful when they actually help, here are 3 tax deductions I see real estate investors miss all the time:Home office deduction – If you manage your rentals from home, part of your housing costs may be deductible.Start-up costs – Expenses you had before your property was even “in service” (like inspections, travel, legal fees) can often be written off.Cost segregation + bonus depreciation – Breaking out components of a property (appliances, flooring, furniture) lets you accelerate write-offs, often front-loading tens of thousands in deductions.I joined BiggerPockets to connect, keep learning, and share insights like this.

The tax advantages of buying/holding gas stations are pretty great.Many of the components of gas stations including pumps, tanks, external parking areas, and other equipment are classified as either 5 or 15 year property so you can bonus depreciate a lot of it (minus the land value) and get significant deductions in year 1.With the current bonus depreciation rate at 100%, a $1 million gas station acquisition could still lead to $200K+ in year 1 deductions depending on the specifics of your deal.