I chose to divide the two floors and put a locking door between the two at the stairwell.

With a pre tax employer account, your money will be locked in and mostly unavailable for future use.  

It's a fun story and it's how I got interested in notes.I bought a vacant, land locked (no easement) lot at tax deed auction (Washington is a deed state). 

We go above and beyond when it comes to protection.. starting with insurance coverage, sings in the listing and in the property that there is no guard on duty (as silly as that sounds), putting extra locking device high enough so youngsters can't reach, an alarm/beep system to alert them that door opens for those with small children (or elderly) so they cannot wander out in the backyard with no one noticing and risk drowning.

Lock in a renter then sale.  

It's a little device you pair with your cell phone.

You can then sell it or keep living in it at that point at a new capital basis (you’ve locked in prior cap gains avoidance), but keep the old property tax basis.

@Nicole ShoafYou are correct and have equity locked up in those units, a good lender can give you options on HELOCs or other loan products that could help get some equity out without selling.

Try not to get locked in too long 4. we're not necessarily looking to go "all out" in terms of theming, but if we did, what kind of revenue does that bring/ROI can you expect, and which Renos for theming are best to do from a cost-benefit analysis, and what do they typically cost?

I recently talked to another builder here in the Houston area, and they told me that they have locked in their materials long time ago when their project started, and that they didn't need to add the 'increased cost' clause in their purchase contracts.