You are required to file a complete and accurate return, which means reporting the income that you earned along with atleast the direct expenses that you incurred on your rental.There are two comflicting forces - Your tax accountant wants to be aggressive with deductions because it will entitle you to paying less taxes(now or in the future).Your lender wants to see as much income as that will increase your Debt to Income Ratio(DTI).The good thing is that you can speak with your lender about 'one time expenses', that were only incurred in that year and are not reoccuring. 

I went to a public hearing on a red card that the town fabricated because a structural inspector decided to do an electrical inspection early.

Help with Expense tracking and categorization: You can sync your bank accounts and credit cards to automatically categorize expenses related to your properties.

You will be able to take advantage of it in a SDIRA if the syndication also has taken on debt and therefore passes UDFI on to your account. 

It really comes down to your comfort level with debt and your long-term strategy.

Same guy handled a triplex rehab (the one with the theft), and that's where he took money that he simply pocketed or used in some sort of Ponzo scheme to pay off other debts (I have no way to know, but the money did not go to contractors or to continue work at the site).

Thus, your profit margin is lower (than the all-cash offer), but your ROI is higher.Putting more than 20% down might reduce your monthly payment and debt-to-income ratio, but it also ties up more of your capital, limiting flexibility.

Dedicate one checking account and credit card exclusively to real estate.

I think paying off a loan with a high interest rate debt and adding to the principal is one way to stay liquid within the property. 

They allow you to get funds at more favorable terms than with a loan or credit card.