The larger ones cost a fraction more, but will be cheaper in the end as you don't need as many.

It is obviously better to have $1 in passive losses to offset taxable income today vs $1 in losses 25 years from now.If I have a $1 million dollar short term vacation rental , using cost seg I will be able to deduct 35% ( example number, not exact) or $350k this year.

Does that mean you can do it as well for others for cheaper? 

Thankfully TX has no maintenance fees unless you are taxable under the franchise tax (approx. $1.1M in gross annual revenue).

I'm focusing on buying where there is population and job growth, i.e. the Lehi (South Salt Lake County and North Utah County), and I'm staying away from less stable but cheaper markets/cities.  

The benefit of the outskirts of town: easier to find new place to build, land is cheaper, still in the path of gentrification and appreciation due to proximity to SLC market, no HOA to deal with, much less permitting and red tape, and these lead to new builds, which has the benefits of maximizing costseg and minimizing maintenance and repairs because the build is brand new.Happy to discuss by videoconference if you want, and I can pay you for your time. 

They back off any closing costs from the sales price to determine taxable basis.5.

In theory, solar power is cheaper that what the local utility charges so you could generate an (small) income off of your solar investment.

Preferably whichever one is cheaper to fix and/or will bring the better return. 

The difficult part right now is money is expensive to borrow, a lot of buyers are on the sidelines waiting for borrowing to get cheaper.