Haven't ruled it out yet.

STR rules in SD county seems more lax than in SD proper but I’m sure still particular.

Setting firm rules since the beginning can help avoid more problems later.

have successfully purchased rentals here that are clean BRRRRs and hit the 1% rule.

The reason you would sell at a discount is that you need to close quickly with cash … that is the offer …  Using an agent to sell in a traditional way will not allow you to make that offer—— sounds like in Texas there are pretty hard rules on timeline… if you are in California however you are less likely to be able to say “your property will be foreclosed in x days”.

My question is, do I qualify as having lived in the house for this time, to get around the 2 out of 5 years capital gains tax rule?

Your real life returns will be slashed due to - higher vacancy rates, high maintenance and repair costs, non payment of rent, eviction filings.Here are some good cardinal rules I follow:1.

Hey Magda, as accountants on BiggerPockets, we're not allowed to self-promote (that's against the forum rules).

A real estate professional can use real estate losses to offset W-2 or other income, but you would need to meet both the:1.750-hour rule – You must spend at least 750 hours per year in real estate activities.2.50% rule – More than 50% of your working time must be spent on real estate.Since both of you have W-2 jobs, it might be difficult to meet these requirements unless one of you dedicates significant time to real estate.Another option could be buying multiple rental properties.

The technical options are easy to learn, some from books, some from talking with attorneys since they are basically rules you need to follow.