Please recommend a SAFE way to invest cash ( ~20k) for a short period of time, about 6 months. 

Someone who is less risk averse may be willing to wait to see if rates drop more significantly and take the higher rate for now and refinance down the road but for the less risk averse, it's definitely a meaningful conversation and pretty easy to quantify by taking the cost and dividing it by the monthly payment savings to determine a "break even" period to see if that makes sense for the client.Curious to hear others' thoughts on this.

It’s true that operating expenses can be deducted immediately, while capital expenditures are typically spread out over a longer period.

It depends on the rental period.  

What are the terms of the “redemption period” of Montgomery county, PA?

Currently, the City generally categorizes short-term rentals, such as Airbnb or Vrbo, as hotel, motel, or bed and breakfast uses because the lease period is less than 30 days.

Negotiations during the due diligence period can be a tricky ordeal.   

You can buy any program out there, but if you're not willing to put in the work for an extended period of time, it's not gonna work

How Cost Segregation Works: Cost segregation studies break down a building's components into categories that can be depreciated over shorter periods.

No seasoning period.