We are in a time when the tax advantages for acquiring commercial real estate are significant. However, it is said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Over the last handful of decades there have been times when the tax regulations surrounding real estate investments were so lucrative, investors made decisions on tax benefits alone. A few may have made out like bandits (they got lucky and dodged the proverbial bullet) but many lost everything. I have been in this business long enough to remember the collapse of the savings and loan industry as a result of this type of activity and witnessed a variation of it repeated in the housing collapse of 2008. While the current tax regulations are extraordinarily beneficial, they should not be the only focus for sound decision making. Investors who make decisions based realistic rents and returns first and then add the tax considerations will achieve superior returns and avoid the risks with too narrowly