The only difference is that there might be an explainable rationale for holding on to a property, such as a well-founded belief that equity gains are coming (such as owning a house in a rapidly growing area or property where the next commercial boom is headed), whereas with gambling your odds never change regardless of your losses.

Your family is likely looking at a $1M+ loss if asset owner is transferred now.

The suspended losses can used to offset the capital gains from the sale of the property or to offset deprecation recapture.

@Alex BoulgerWell, this is where the classic tax answer of "it depends" comes into play.This could be a good opportunity for loss harvesting, if you have underperforming assets in your portfolio. 

You win in real estate by never being forced to buy/sell or by taking the loss that can break you.

Multi-family properties are a much stronger investment in Tampa compared to condos, especially because of the headaches with condo HOA fees—out of the 3,500 transactions I’ve done over the past 20 years, the only long-term losses I’ve had were with condos.

IMO you're asking for trouble and there isn't enough of a potential loss to warrant a response. 

I am guessing you are a Real estate professional and can do cost seg to take a bunch of losses for the new construction cabins that you intend to keep long term as rentals?

@Gary - The first letter is a more "I'm so sorry for you loss, and I know firsthand just how difficult this is".

If you're going for non full documentation loans then there are other methods to qualify as well (rental income/ bank deposits/profit and loss/no income/etc) but these loans have higher rates and costs typically.