Congrats on retiring from military after 24yrs of service and best wishes with the new job

1. Don’t rush into buying a home just because your looking for a tax write-off. It’s nice to be able to write it off but I don’t think it is a huge benefit.

2. I’ve made some offers on REO lately and the listing agents usually say don’t come in at more than 20% off, but do whatever you want as most of the time they are not looking at mult. offers and you can counter back and forth. BTW I haven’t got a bank to accept 20% or more off but properties are still listed and I’ll see if they lower asking prices over the next few months.

3. If you have no experience remodeling then you”ll soon find out some companies will quote $40-$50k for a new kitchen….an avg master bath quote can run $20k. All depends on materials and size.

I personally wouldn’t buy right now (even in a nice are of RB) unless you can get something 20-25% below current comps. We still have a big mess ahead and it isn’t worth the stress of losing $100k + of equity over the next few years. You should also figure out what rents are in the area for a place that size.