RE has traditionally been a inflation hedge ... 2% The past 15 years was an anomaly pushed by low interest rates and COVID 

If possible, include in your welcome kit the location of a drop off laundromat (they wash, dry and fold for a fee).Make life easy for your residents, and you will be rewarded. :)

they came and started, getting 50% complete and have been finding excuse after excuse to push us back.

If I were to sell and build the two smaller houses, I could likely fund them enough from my gains on the current rental (and a little out of pocket) so they also cashflow ~$300-400/mo each.So, at the end of the day It’d be a wash or a little loss, cashflow wise, on one house and I’d gain ~$300-400/mo on the other house.

My advice is to double check if to invest in Fort Meyers: talk with someone who knows the local market inside-out and is not pushed by selling you something because the market there has been very tricky. 

With the inclusion of personal usage for the travel, that may very well push you over the threshold into disallowance.I'll also say that I personally think that having a conference in Cancun versus a much more remote destination such as Birmingham, Alabama or even fully online may also provide some additional ambiguity.

Probably the same for most BP members.Both of our bankers $25mm and $1.5mm Fed loan Cap rate said their customers are out of Covid Government money deposits, thus they, the banks, are not pushing loans now. 

This way there is little push-back to get them to sign it (ie. you aren't changing their current rental rate, etc.)Be sure to consider the thought that there could be a major expense you have to cover at any given time.  

so, as you suggest the best way to avoid this issue is just push the closing date back and have only a 60 leaseback. 

I also believe the income used for purposes of establishing my short terms gain tax rate is calculated as my income + the capital gains amount (also deemed to be income), which will push me up into another tax bracket.C.