[quote=sdcellar]Oh, I figured all those kinds of items are “deductible”, but must also offset by the income, so if the profit exceeds expenses, it’s a wash, right?

This basically leaves depreciation as the only advantaged deduction as it’s not really money out of pocket (unless you are operating at a loss every year).[/quote]
Your income is $1700/month. Your PITI would be around $1400 before write offs. So, write offs will lower that $1400. Then you take the # after write off and subtract that from $1700/month and you get your monthly net profit before tax. But Either way, it seems like it’ll be a positive net profit, so it sounds good enough for a me for a rough calculation.
[quote=sdcellar]
That said, I get too that if it at least pays for itself today, it’s pretty much only going to get better from there. The challenge, of course, is finding properties that work, but in time, I’m sure there will be. Well, that and coming up with all those down payments.

On the interest rate, I’m talking about loans for investment properties vs. primary residence. When you say 5%, that seems to be the going rate for primary today (maybe 4.8ish). Are you saying you can get really attractive rates for the former as well?[/quote]
Yep, that’s definitely the challenge. That’s why I’m seeking and not found. There’s no point in seeking if you don’t have the down payment ready, to jump on the deal.

Regards to the interest, yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Go to aimloan.com right now and do a quick search for investment property, you’ll see you can get 4.5% w/ 3.11 points. For primary resident, you can get 4.5% w/ 1.362 points.