Stick to areas you know well; this familiarity can greatly reduce risk and boost your confidence when making purchasing decisions. 2.

Capitalize renovation costs to increase the property’s basis and reduce future taxable gains.

If this job popped up out of the blue, your intent was not to move within the 1st year, so you may be ok.If you are planning on building a portfolio of homes, it is safest to stick in your home for 12 months to reduce the appearance of potential fraud. 

We certainly have found some deals that would reduce our living expenses compared to renting.

With this, along with shifting the utilities to the tenants and reducing the management fee to generate an NOI of around $103k, I'd estimate the value around $1.8M to $2.0M

What are your thoughts on the market now, post-covid and with rentals/prices at a significantly reduce price from last year?

Tax benefits should be considered but not be the sole factor.The 'main benefit' from a tax perspective should be to generate a high return from your real estate investments and not to pay taxes on the return that you get.If you are able to reduce your taxable income, that should be icing on the cake.

Was it included as a credit/debit on the HUD so it should have reduced your cash to close? 

Having a group of friends living in an apartment complex creates a sense of community and reduces turnover.

Account ClosedI recommend that have a consultation with your tax accountant and/or financial advisor on ways to reduce your taxes.