There are some exceptions to this but this is the general rule.The $150,000 hurdle shrinks to $75,000 if you are married but filing a separate return.Creating an LLC does not suddenly bypass this.In actuality, you created another filing requirement which your CPA will charge you an extra cost for. 

I know the addage if you treat it like a hobby it will pay you like a hobby but if I have some extra cash maybe it's better spent on a 2nd home with the potential for income vs. just using that money in my primary home. 

My husband and I are still working our W-2s (and extra), but we can't move on another property until this one is at least paying for itself.

He hit a gas line (not a huge amount of damage), and there is an extra bill coming to me from the gas company for the fix/labor/material costs.

The goal here is to reduce liability.Consult an Attorney for Liability Options: An attorney could advise on setting up an umbrella insurance policy to add an extra layer of liability protection.

But zero chance I would pay the extra to sell to this one buyer or expect debt to be forgiven. 

While passive rental income is possible, managing it across borders can be tricky and may incur extra costs like foreigner withholding taxes and specialized tax filing.Financial Accounts (Roth IRA and HYSA): From what I understand, if you were to leave the U.S. without citizenship or a green card, your ability to contribute to a Roth IRA would be affected as you would likely no longer have U.S.

This approach requires more messaging though—and the impact of this at a larger scale could be a lot of extra work—but in our view, it was absolutely worth it.

Anyone with a little extra money on their hands with the intent of buying real estate may be considered a legitimate lead.

MTR is treated like an LTR from what I understand and I already own a couple LTR's so would rather do more of those than an MTR and avoid the extra hassle of furnishing, etc.