You'll want to put together a personal financial statement (basically lists of all your assets and liabilities) and have your tax returns ready.

I had to redo everything they did on my taxes. 

@Apryl Skahill To get your risk-averse spouse on board with real estate investing, start by educating him with beginner-friendly resources that highlight the long-term stability, cash flow potential, and tax benefits of real estate, such as depreciation deductions and offsetting W-2 income.

To succeed, focus on properties in high-demand neighborhoods like Pecan Grove or Aliana, and ensure your cash flow analysis accounts for high property taxes, potential HOA restrictions, and flood insurance costs.

Make sure to account for property taxes, insurance, and any HOA fees, as those can vary significantly in different markets and impact your cash flow.

This is obviously much better than $1,400 per month.On top of that, you will now get 2x the depreciation write-off so your taxes should go down.On top of that, you will now get 2x the appreciation when real estate price go up.On top of that, your tenants are helping you pay down the loan, initially at about $100/mo for both properties, which gradually gets better and better.On top of that, you now have more units so if one or two goes vacant, you have more renters covering the losses of the vacant units.If you want to keep these properties, I would do a cash-out refi and go buy more rental real estate.

Wanted to still be close to family but maintain a cheaper lifestyle, still have strong appreciation, and much better tenant/landlord laws, taxes, etc. 

Start by talking to a cross-border CPA and attorney to handle taxes and legal structures properly.

However, before you do so you should ensure that your revenue from rental income covers ALL your property expenses in the townhome, including mortgage, taxes, insurance, maintenance/repairs, vacancy, property management, etc...

To help avoid this we’re planning on giving clients the option going forward to let us know if they’d like to be filed early and we will adjust document deadlines accordingly.