Deleted Comments: I’ve noticed that quite a few comments or replies have been deleted here on BP, and it doesn’t seem like the users themselves removed them.

People have different strategies, different amounts of money, different goals, locations etc and yes there are LOTS of fake "pros" and gurus out there.

It does put the buyers agent in some awkward positions though when they make an offer and then we counter removing or drastically reducing the commish.. the Buyers cant understand why their agent wont work for 5 to 10k.. compared to 15 to 20k on the what used to be normal 3% buyers side..

That's what the proposed 5% cap is tied to.The white house is asking congress to remove tax breaks that were perks for real estate investors if they use those tax breaks to raise rent too aggressively. 

Different from a residential tenant, you will need to have an agreement that states their expected conduct, when and how they will remove their tenant, and if you want any screening done in advance for the person(s) staying in the unit.

In your case, it sounds like some non-load bearing partition walls were removed creating a larger bedroom which is pretty insignificant.

Another property the owner removed all the copper wiring damaging walls and ciling in the process. 

My goal is to work with those existing property owners to remove them entirely from the day-to-day operations of their STR, making their property a passive revenue source. 

Right now we are still in the process of removing two of the other three tenants (I think we finally made it, aside from a junk car left on the property) and working towards getting the place fully rented.

So incurring the fewest expenses is the cheapest exit plan.There is no tax advantage to refinancing the property first - in fact, the refi will often force the taxing authority to reassess the value of the property - which would likely remove any tax grandfathering you may have - raising your taxes.There is no advantage to doing a two step process like you mention.Randy