If i can sell it for  the equivalent of 5 years of profit i would of made by renting it then i will sell it instead of renting, otherwise back to original plan of renting the property as originally anticipated. because the question ultimately is (and is what i think if you ask yourself you will find the answer to your post) at what point does the amount of immediate lump sum profit of flipping outweigh the potential never ending small incremental profit of renting it out. for me its 5 years of rental profit, atleast at this point, i may change that amount of years as I grow with experience.

Disadvantages depends on the beholder of their niche, some can't operate ethically, some think disclosing your position is not a good thing, the advantages out weigh the disadvantages in reality.

Even at break even, you're making money on principal paydown and the like.But in this case, you're actually taking sizable losses every month that at some point really will outweigh the amount of money you may have to come out of pocket on a sale today.That 3 or 4 year mark seems to be the true break even point as to which choice is better.Here's one other thought though.What if you take that 40k and use it as a down payment for another investment property that cash flows say, 400 to 500 a month?

Selfishly, what I get in return on something I feel aligned with far outweighs anything I can measure in cashflow or margin. 

Does the cost of saving taxes now in real dollars, time and opportunity cost out weigh the benefits of using a tax deferred strategy?  

Unless you're working with enough capital and wealth to justify the fees most financial planners charge, it won't be worth it considering the wealth of information you can get as a beginner just researching and asking questions.I recommend getting a good CPA, but having a dedicated planner could quickly eat away at the money you have to invests and completely outweigh any gains they recommend.  

In my opinion (and again I'm just getting started), I have to believe the positives far outweigh the negatives.

I was going to try to dominate the competition by being extremely hard working, and always giving my client what they want no matter what, but I think the weight of not growing up there, and being so young out-weighs my hard work.

At some point, the funds saved should outweigh the risk involved and would probably be better suited for further investments. 

Depreciation, Interest Expense, and amortization of loan fees are all writeoffs and can easily outweigh a "low cash flow property's" bottom line.