The fact that you evaluated whether to sell or do a cash-out refi shows you’re playing a long game and keeping your options open.

Hopefully someone with tax accounting knowledge can jump in here with more detailed analysis, but I looked at this a bit several years ago...1) You still have to pay the depreciation recapture on the sale decreasing the net benefit of this approach due to the large tax payment in the 'sale' year2) The LLC would need to not be a passthrough entity so that it can be taxed separately from you, so you have to add another tax return cost for the years going ahead3) Taxing it separately from you likely means corporate status and corp. taxation rates which are higher than yours and I've heard many times over the years to avoid titling real property as a corp...Overall from what I've seen this only makes sense in a select few scenarios, which for most people aren't in play. 

I even purchased his cash flow board game to play with my family.

If we were heading for a crash, prices wouldn’t be holding steady like that.Now, let me tell you from my own experience—I own 32 properties, and here’s how things have played out:15 have dropped about 20% in value (mostly in areas where demand cooled off).10 have stayed flat, meaning no loss or gain.7 have actually gone up in price, which proves that not everything is crashing—some pockets are still appreciating.And I don’t touch condos.

Jennfer,How did your NW Houston CPA search play out? 

Still, I think you'd find it difficult to find one that would be a good long-term investment unless you had another ~20-30 years to go, it's at least cash neutral, and you don't plan to hold it too long (to avoid too much investment loss and before you get to the point where it's unsellable because of too few years left); that's another way of saying that maybe it suits your cash needs in the near-term or is at least less of a pill to swallow than other options until you find something that's more of a sensible long-term play

You’ll either need to focus on high-cash-flow opportunities or equity-building plays (forced appreciation in value-add properties.

@Shiloh Lundahl I will do value add specifically with ADU development, so I am tracking permits to find other ADU developments and overall inventory growth to find a competitive edge with supplying demand in areas lacking larger residential developers aka "the middle housing"@Arlem Garcia Interesting, Tariffs will play a big role in supply chains, so it will be interesting to see how governments come to resolutions@Henry Clark Absolutely, imo gone are the days of investing for cashflow or appreciation, now it's about aligning long-term strategies with lifestyle 

@Tara JosbergerCharleston is a strong market for real estate, but local regulations play a big role in investment strategy.

Selling means giving up an incredibly cheap cost of capital, especially in an appreciating area like 28277.I direct my investors to 28277 all the time for appreciation-focused plays.