Take into account RE taxes, Mortgage interest, charitable donations, large medical expenses, ect...compare it against 2017's total.If you took a look against the rental but used the proceeds for personal use- IE to pay off your personal residence the interest would not be deductible as a business expense. 

That’s not comfortable but unless you’re elderly or have some sort of underlying medical condition it also probably won’t kill you.The repair happened, I the landlord pay for it and everything continues as normal.

(VA Funding Fee is exempt if VA disability compensation is receive)@Bart H. hit the nail on the head!

However, if you purchase a primary residence in another state, look into their homestead exemption laws before you get tempted to claim thatMy husband and I are residents of Texas, we own a home in Georgia (although ours was a primary residence at the time, not a STR or LTR like yours will be), if we had claimed the homestead exemption in order to save on our property taxes we would have been required to change our residency to GA and pay state taxes. 

She had no will and claimed she "signed her house over to Medi-Cal in order to receive benefits.

I cant be the first person to think of this...In my city there is an owner occupant property tax exemption on the first $50,000. 

I would also look to see what exemptions are currently on the property tax bill.

I believe foreign investors are exempt from the accredited investor rules US investors must follow. 

You can of course improve this general rule of thumb by:1) putting more money down to lower your monthly payment2) buying down your rate to lower your monthly payment3) get a cheaper insurance quote to lower your monthly payment4) use a different product with a lower rate for a lower monthly payment like a 5/1 ARM FHA5) if you're in a historic district you can apply for property tax exemptions which lower property tax and thereby lower your monthly payment like in Orange, Ca they have a Mills Act which reduces the property tax to about 1/10th of the surrounding properties.

I imagine there are similar guidelines in each state.As quoted from TSD 300 (revised March 2018) "The following sales and services are exempt “per se” from sales/use tax in West Virginia:The term “per se” means by, of, or in itself.