It’s the time of the year when one of life’s certainties looms. We trust proptext readers are in fine fettle, but there’s no avoiding the fact it’s time to get organized again for tax season.

(By the way, the word fettle originated in Old English in the 1700s and referred to the condition, and its verb meant to prepare. “Fine fettle,” meaning to be in good condition, entered the idiom about a century later.)

But we digress. Taxes, yeh, we know, it’s a tough topic for a writer, unless that writer happens to be an enthusiastic accountant. We are not that writer, but we love us a professional who can do a vigorous accounting. 

However, duty calls.

The benefits of real estate investing are the driving force behind this newsletter, and they are many: cash flow from rental income, appreciation when a property’s home’s value rises, using leverage (loans) to buy, stacking equity while paying down a mortgage, building generation wealth, diversifying into an alternative investment, using real property to hedge against inflation and market volatility, etc., etc. 

(Here is a standard disclaimer telling readers that this is not offered as tax advice, and we recommend consulting a tax professional.)

Still they are many benefits come tax season associated with owning real property: 

1. Accounting fees

2. The study of potential markets

3. Training for new employees and salaries

4. Office equipment and furniture

Depreciation allows property owners to recover some costs of an income-producing property, which the IRS estimates has an average lifespan of 27.5 years. Once a property is put into use, owners are permitted an annual deduction of 3.636 percent of the total cost of the property.

This section of the tax code feels like a gift to real estate investors, because, as we all know, we expect the value of a property to increase.

To qualify for depreciation, a property must meet all the following requirements, according to the IRS:

Depreciation is also relevant to deductions associated with maintenance and improvements, which have different definitions regarding the tax allowance for owners. Maintenance is considered a repair, meaning it returns the property to its original condition. For example, patching up a hole in a roof would be maintenance while replacing the roof would be considered an improvement. In general, improvements add to the overall property value.

In a move that could reshape how Americans search for homes online, Redfin, now under the umbrella of Rocket Companies, struck a three-year agreement with Compass to display the brokerage’s once-exclusive “coming soon” and other private listings on Redfin’s widely visited real-estate portal. For the first time, properties that sellers had kept off broader public feeds will appear alongside traditional listings on a site that draws tens of millions of monthly users, giving buyers earlier visibility into inventory that was previously hidden behind brokerage-specific portals. The deal also ties in mortgage perks from Rocket Mortgage for Compass-represented clients and reflects a strategic pivot in the industry’s portal wars, contrasting sharply with rival Zillow’s stance against off-market listings that has fueled legal and competitive friction in recent months. Critics warn the arrangement could further blur lines between open multiple-listing services and broker-controlled marketplaces, even as proponents argue it broadens consumer choice in a tight housing market.

In a year that saw broad cooling across the U.S. housing market, same-store rents for single-family rentals (measured only among homes leased in both 2024 and 2025) barely budged, rising a modest 0.75 percent on average nationwide, according to SFR Analytics’ full-year review of more than 450,000 units. The report underscores sharp regional divergence: several Rust Belt metros posted relatively healthy gains north of 4 percent, while South Florida, Austin and Asheville — markets that experienced outsized run-ups during the pandemic — saw rents actually fall. Workforce housing continued to outperform higher-priced tiers, with the least expensive third of homes showing the strongest rent growth and more expensive properties stagnating or declining.

JUST BECAUSE

Hobby tunneling: from ambitious backyard shafts to elaborate subterranean networks documented on TikTok and YouTube seems to be having a moment, the civil-engineering blog Practical Engineering offers a sobering yet fascinating primer on what it really takes to dig underground, and why it’s far more than an itch satisfied with a pickaxe and a headlamp. Author and engineer Wesley Crump opens with the cultural backdrop of online tunnel builders, but quickly pivots to the hard truths of land rights, permitting and safety that even the most intrepid DIY digger must confront. Drawing on the methods used in major public infrastructure projects, he breaks down how geology dictates excavation techniques, why support systems, from temporary shields to permanent linings, are essential, and how challenges like earth pressure, water infiltration and ventilation complicate even a modest bore.

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